The Dam Good TimesLake Livingston’s

San Jacinto County’s only locally owned newspaperColdspring, Texas 77331 Established 2010

January 2012 Volume 91 40 pages Monthly

PRST STDPOSTAGE PD

#16COLDSPRING, TX

FreeWe don’t repeat gossip so read carefully! Or go to www.thedamgoodtimes.com

Happy New Year!From Pitchin’ in the Pines!

Sheriff’s RoundupSheriff’s Round Up 2

Community Events 6

Women’s League

Christmas Tour 7

Pitchin’ in the Pines 9

Military Minutes 10

Sports & Outdoors 12

Travel 13

Commentary 14

VALENTINE’S DAY

HINTS 20

The Dam Gossip 21

Crossword Puzzle 22

World & Local 30

U.S. Forest News 33

About Town 36

Happy Birthdays

The Dam Good Times is 2!

Kim Tullos

Sam Kellum

Mya Schenk

Michelle Iguess

Zac Laramore

Bernie Anderson

Paula McIntyre

Stephen Painchaud

Emily Nunnery (#40!)

Happy 40th

Anniversary

James & Becky Preston

San Jacinto CountyToyz for Kidz had anotheramazing year! All theelves are exhausted, butthe presents were packedup and distributed by thefire departments in SanJacinto County

This year approxi-mately 550 kids received

toys from the program,which was up from about390 kids last year.

The Toyz for Kidz rep-resentatives would like tothank everyone who hassupported this programwhether you gave a finan-cial donation, toy dona-tion or gave us your time

and effort to separate andbags all these toys.

Without each andevery one of you thiswould not be possible.We hope everyone had aMerry Christmas and aHappy New Year!

ThankYou!

http://www.martinchrysler.net

Sheriff’s Roundup

JOB TITLE: FULL-TIME DISPATCH POSITIONSAN JACINTO COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE

SHIFT WORK – COUNTY BENEFITS $11.11 A HOUR

GOOD COMPUTER & TELEPHONE SKILLS, NO CRIMINAL HISTORY, MUST HAVE HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA OR GED

APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE AT SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT 936-653-4367

My name is SheriffJames Lewis Walters andI am running for reelec-tion as the San JacintoCounty Sheriff.

During the first threeyears of my term we haveraised over $560,000 ofrevenue from housing in-mates at the jail fromother counties. Addition-ally, from a proactive ap-proach to the jailadministration, we savedthe county nearly$100,000 in medicalcosts. Both these effortsresulted in tax savings forresidents in San Jacinto

County. Additionally, we were

able to add more patrolvisibility while remainingwithin the annual budg-ets. I made a commit-ment to go after drugs inthis county and our Sher-iff's Department hasmade more than 200drug arrests. From thesearrests have comeseizures of drug monies,which are shared with theDistrict Attorney’s office.

The Sheriff’s Depart-ment used our portion topurchase an inmatetransportation van, ani-mal control stock trailer, apatrol car, animal controltruck and half the salaryof an investigative detec-tive, all while providingtax free value for SJCTaxpayers.

Overall, 9 new patrolscars have been added,which greatly increases

the safety of the individ-ual Deputy Sheriff’s whouse these vehicles to re-spond to emergencies.Furthermore, replacingolder, run-down patrolcars with new patrol cars,equals significant savingson maintenance costs forour tax payers.

I am committed tocontinuing these efforts inmy next term. I would ap-preciate your vote for SanJacinto County Sheriff.

Sincerely,

Sheriff JamesLewis Walters

Sheriff JamesWalters satdown with TheDam GoodTimes to an-swer a coupleof questions.

TDGT: “I understand youare the lowest paidcounty-wide elected offi-cial, is that correct?”

SJW: “Yes. That is cor-rect.”

TDGT: “I also understandfrom the research we didthat you have the largestpayroll, which means themost employees of anyother county-wide electedofficial. Is that correct?”

SJW: “Yes. That is alsocorrect. We have thebiggest budget, the mostemployees and the onlytwo 24 hour/day situa-tions in the county; mean-ing the Sheriff’sDepartment and the Jail

are 24/hours/day opera-tions.”

TDGT: “So WHY do youwant to run for re-elec-tion?”

SJW: “Because I’m con-cerned about our county.My wife and I have raisedchildren and now wehave grandchildren grow-ing up here. We want itto be safe. I was raisedin San Jacinto Countyand this is my way of giv-ing back. It’s kind of likebeing a teacher; youdon’t do it for the money.You do it to make a differ-ence.”

San Jacinto County Sheriff,James Lewis Walters,Seeks Re-Election

Wed-Sat 11:00am - Midnightish

Martini

Specials!!

Hosted By Jim

my Ray!

Inside Crystal’s Bistro Private Club-Memberships Free

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Manufacture& RepairLighted SignsChannel LettersAwningsCustom Boat CoversParking Lot LIghtsCrane Service

Vinyl LetteringBannersTruck LetteringBillboardsScreen Printing2112 Hwy 190 W.

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Sheriff’s Roundup

Saturday, December17th at approximately8:00 PM the San Jac-into County Sheriff re-sponded to a call onBrenda Lane located onFM 1725 in the Cleve-land area for a shoot-ing.

Deputies and Detec-tives arrived on sceneto find a 24 year oldwhite female deceased,from a gunshot wound.

This shooting hasbeen ruled a suicideafter the conclusion ofan autopsy this morn-ing.

Suicide-24 yr old

ClevelandWoman

Grapevine Texas RealEstate agent Aziz Yaz-danpanah was sufferingthe worst kind of humilia-tion possible for a Muslimman: his house was inforeclosure, his wife hadleft him, and she wasraising "his" family in theWestern, modern fashion– even allowing their chil-dren to celebrate Christ-mas and datenon-Muslims. In properIslamic tradition, Yazpan-panah did what any obe-dient Muslim should do –perform honor killings –and murdered his entirefamily to preserve thefamily's Muslim "faith"

and "good name."

TELL CONGRESS –

STOP SHARIAH

LAW IN AMERICA –

SUPPORT HR 973

On Christmas morning,Yazdanpanah dressed ina Santa suit, invaded hisestranged family's apart-ment and shot all familymembers dead, leavingtheir broken bodiesstrewn among festiveChristmas wrappingpaper, before shootinghimself as well.THIS IS SHARIAH LAWIN ACTION.

Tragically, the warningsigns were all there, but

in this day of political cor-rectness, none daredutter the words Shariah –and the promise of justiceand freedom failed thisyoung family fleeing me-dieval persecution.

Friends of Nona Yaz-danpanah, the daughtermurdered by Aziz, saythat Nona was terrified ofher father. She frequentlycame to school sobbingand describing how herfather had installed videocameras throughout thehouse to monitor his fam-ily's activities, and thatAziz had even nailed hisdaughter's bedroom win-dow closed to prevent

possible escapes. Nonawas reportedly relievedwhen her mother left Azizand spirited Nona and heryounger brother Ali to anapartment. Nona was re-portedly excited about"starting her new life."

But all that endedChristmas morning, whenAziz "reclaimed" his fam-ily's honor in time-hon-ored Islamic fashion,slaughtering them in coldblood.

HONOR KILLINGS IN TEXASFAILURE OF RULE OF LAW

Community EventsSponsored by:

AreaChurchesColdspring United

Methodist Church Sun-day Service is 8:30 am &11 am Sunday School isat 9:45 am Youth GroupWednesday at 5:30 pm

Family Faith ChurchPastors Jeff & EileenHackleman Sundays inColdspring @ 11:00 amwww.familyfaith.ws

Christian Faith ChurchSunday Worship 10:30am & Bible Study 7 pmon Wednesday1040 Hwy 190Oakhurst 77359936.377.4795

First Apostolic ChurchSunday Worship 10:00am and 6:30 pm BibleStudy 7:30 TuesdayGoodrich, TX936.365.3838

First United Pente-costal Sunday Worship10:00 am & 6:00 pmBible Study Wednesday7 pm Youth GatheringFridays @ 7 pm On-Alaska, TX936.646.4514

Methodist Church ofGoodrich Sunday School9:00 am, Worship10:25am Goodrich, TX936.365.2435

Lake LivingstonLutheran Church Sun-day School & Bible Study9:30 am, Worship 11:00Hwy 190 & FM 3152, OnAlaska, TX936.646.5681

Lake Station BaptistChurch Sunday School9:45 am, Worship 11:00am, Wednesday BibleStudy 6:00 pmGoodrich, TX936.365.2755

New Hope Mission-ary Baptist ChurchSunday School 9:45am, Worship 11:00 am

The Universal EthicianChurch Beyond the endof FM 135 in San JacintoCounty Services are heldon the Sabbath (Satur-

day) 1 hour before Sunsethttp://www.sunsetser-vices.org

St. Stephens CatholicChurch Point Blank, TX Mass-4:30 pm everySaturday!

Point Blank Commu-nity Church: SundayWorship 9:00 am, cof-fee and fellowship10:00am, Sunday School10:25 am, and Wednes-day Evening PrayerService 6:00 pm432 Robinson Way, offBoat Ramp Rd. Tel 936-377-2104

Community Events

San Jacinto Youth

Club Fundraiser!

Dust o� your margarita glasses, don your � ip � ops & hawaiian shirts and join us for a beach party!

Prizes and Live Auction! Crystals BistroJanuary 21stParty starts at 7pm

San Jacinto County Area Go Texan Committee will be hostingthe Denim and Diamonds annual dinner/auction on February11, 2012. Money raised goes to local scholarships. Yourticket includes dinner for two/raffle for a Polaris Ranger Crew,4 day Carnival Cruise Certificate, Remington 12 gauge shotgun/auction. Tickets may be purchased at People's StateBank in Shepherd or Coldspring and at First State Bank inShepherd or any local committee person.

By Manda Lively

Despite the cold,wet weather on Decem-ber 4, the 2011 ChristmasTour hosted by the SanJacinto County Women’sLeague was a great suc-cess. Approximately 200tickets were sold byLeague members prior tothe tour and at the hospi-tality room in the Magno-lia Baptist Church on theday of the tour. Theevent raised $2300.00.

All of the tour siteswere in the Sam HoustonForest community ofMagnolia off of Hwy945S. The homes weredecorated for the holi-days in a variety of styles– everything from a loghouse to a New Orleans-style home to a historicalhome built 100 yearsago. The homeownersshared the histories oftheir homes as well asthe history of their homesites (many of themparcels of family land)with the tour participants.

Although it waswet and cold outside,each home embraced itsvisitors with warmth andthe scents of spiced teaand cookies or a crack-ling fire. The decorationswere as different fromone site to the next as thedesign of the houses, butall were festive and verydecorative. It was a won-derful event!

Money earned bythe SJC Women’sLeague supports scholar-ships for high schoolgraduates, the Coldspring

Library, and other civic or-ganizations in the com-munity. For moreinformation, call ArnetteDaugherty at 377-3906.

Welcoming tour partici-pants at the HospitalityRoom at the MagnoliaBaptist Church were (leftto right) Women’s Lea-guers Nancy Ellis, SueJackson, and VadaSyphrett, coordinator forthe event.

Tour participants enteringthe Jim Parkman homewere welcomed by theturning staircase and

magnificent light fixture.The front porch of theJames and Martha Lilleylog home was decoratedwith greenery and poin-settias.

The Laney Hendersonhome (Pictured top right)is built and decorated in aNew Orleans-style. Thisdining room and its deco-rations were beautifullycrafted to look like a clas-sical New Orleans cele-bration.

This Christmas Tree(pictured below) deco-rated the living room ofthe Laney Henderson.

Joe and Kathy Kirkendalhave updated their 100+year-old home (Right,2nd from top) for modernliving, but it is still verymuch a classical EastTexas home. One out-standing feature in the liv-ing room was theChristmas tree toppedwith a cowboy hat.

Outside the Kirkendalhome reindeer pull an an-tique carriage. (Right, 3rdfrom top)

The O’Hara/Harke home(left) was decorated withthe owner’s collection ofunique holiday creations.These Christmas treesand Santa sat on top of a100 year-old secretary.

SJC Women’s League 2011 Christmas Tour

Dr. Kenneth L. Russell

Professor of Education,

Emeritus Sam Houston

State University

Getting people to understand

that money is not the real wealth

is a difficult problem. One must

also understand the fact that idle

money in the stock market, in

bank accounts, or even in one’s

pocket is not serving its real

purpose.

Money measures how much

wealth you can buy. It is the

means of obtaining wealth pro-

duced by the labor of other peo-

ple.

Money is a public utility.

Money makes it possible to pro-

duce and distribute wealth or

property which includes human

skills. It must be managed like

any other public utility, not as

something that citizens own for

their own private use. Money is

the Wealth Transportation Sys-

tem that makes a civilization

possible. For a country to be

healthy and happy, this symbol

of wealth must be available to

all members of the nation to use.

Poor management of this

vital public utility will always

cause economic hardship for

any nation and its people.

An insufficient supply of money

always results in a depression.

On the other hand, if too much

money is put into circulation, in-

flation automatically follows.

An example of money as a

public utility would be to com-

pare it to the wires which move

electricity from its source to the

consumer. Money is the public

utility that transports the goods

and services that are produced

with the electricity. If suddenly

more customers appear, more

goods and services will auto-

matically be needed; therefore

more power will be required.

But if more lines are built where

there is no need, where no addi-

tional customers exist, energy

prices will inevitably increase

because of the cost of producing

the unneeded electricity. Too

much of any utility only serves

to increase the cost of every-

thing.

When I was a child, a post

card was a single cent and mail-

ing a letter cost two cents. The

nation prospered, but the in-

crease in the money resulted in

increasing the cost of that post

card to twenty-six cents and the

cost of mailing a letter eventu-

ally to forty-five cents. The in-

evitable national inflation

caused by the expanded money

supply did nothing to improve

our postal service.

The jobs bill currently being

debated by the United States

Congress, without an increase in

taxes to pay for it. It will move

the cost of all goods and serv-

ices up in a year or two. It will

only make the cost of everything

to go up thus reducing the retire-

ment income for the elderly and

those living on fixed incomes.

If there is no new money via

salary or investments, any in-

crease in the cost of living is a

threat to those unfortunate souls

caught in the desperate struggle

for survival.

History proves that messing

with the money supply will

never work unless it is messed

with intelligently and in keeping

with the lessons of history.

I may not live long enough to

witness the eclipse of America,

but it is coming just as surely as

the Roman civilization which

ruled the entire world, fell into

utter ruin when that once glori-

ous empire ceased to build,

when all of the roads were fin-

ished, the aqueducts built, the

walls complete and when there

were no more massive construc-

tion projects, their economy

failed. This historical and mon-

umental failure should serve to

help us understand what must be

done in order to prevent the

same from happening to our

great nation that is now tottering

on the same dangerous and

deadly precipice.

The following is the only

way to solve the catastrophic

economic problem that we are

now facing in the United States.

The slow death of America can

be prevented only by immediate

emergency measures. This

means an all-out war on unem-

ployment. This can be accom-

plished only by putting people

back to work. If you want to

save this great nation of ours,

then provide jobs for all citi-

zens.

The Solution

There must be an upgrading

of the existing rail system with

multiple track lines between

every airport and city in the

country. The project will need

hundreds of first class, modern,

electric locomotives and passen-

ger cars built with materials

made in America. This rapid rail

system must be American built,

by and for the prosperity of

everyone in this nation.

Airplanes are needed only for

long flights of three hours or

more. More cars and buses will

still be needed for the short

hauls but such vehicles already

exist in abundance. Automobile

plants can be converted to rail-

way construction systems. A

similar transition was made in

this country when a shift was

made to military hardware for

the Second World War. This,

too, is a war, a struggle for our

very survival! We either win

this economic campaign or we

are finished as a nation. It is as

simple as that!

This emergency measure

must include the repair of our

present highway system and

power lines. We must use only

American materials and docu-

mented American citizens. Re-

member we are trying to fix this

country, not the entire world.

It must be understood that

the American way of life is in

peril. It could very well be de-

stroyed in only a few years if the

nation’s current economic poli-

cies are not reversed and fiscal

stability restored.

All power lines from coast to

coast must be put underground.

Every able-bodied American

citizen must have work and the

emphasis must be on citizens.

Even the handicapped, but oth-

erwise healthy people, must be

found a productive job in the

work force.

Every bank in America must

be held accountable for its deci-

sions and actions. No corpora-

tion should be considered too

big to fail. Regular commercial

banks, those that make loans,

and investment organizations

that underwrite stocks and

bonds, must be separate institu-

tions once again. A customer

must not be able to write check

on a savings account without a

30 day notice.

If a banking institution fails,

it fails, that’s all. Debit cards

are acceptable, but credit cards

should be made illegal if not

paid ever month.

A system must be set in place

that keeps America’s money

working in this country rather

than hidden under mattresses,

drawing interest in foreign

banks and off-shore accounts.

Interest should only be paid on

true savings accounts, bonds,

and investments that cannot be

liquidated in less than thirty

days or more without a penalty.

Such an enlightened eco-

nomic policy would

mean an all out war on the pre-

vious system, one that has for

years rewarded people for

sloppy money management

practices and irresponsible so-

cial activities It also means a to-

tally different life style for every

American. There should be no

more tax free anything.

The present income tax

should be completely scrapped

and replaced by a system in

which a one cent charge is

placed on every financial trans-

action. If one spends a hundred

dollars on something, anything,

when the transaction takes

place, one dollar will go to the

federal government. How much

an American is taxed should de-

pend solely upon how much he

or she spends, whether it’s for a

bus ticket to get downtown or a

brand new yacht. This is not a

flat tax.

Insurance companies must be

eliminated from the health care

industry. The present system

only deprives many people of

medical health while driving

them into bankruptcy. The gov-

ernment’s job should be to pro-

tect the country’s population

from the abuses of those who

would take advantage of the sick

and helpless. Our country

should do better than embracing

and emulating a survival of the

fittest social mentality. We are a

better people than that by far.

The responsibilities of the

Federal Reserve, a for-profit,

private banking system in the

business to make money must

be assumed by the United States

Treasury as required by the U.S.

Constitution.

If you want to forestall the

destruction of America get rid of

free trade as now practiced.

Never trade the cow to another

country, only trade or sell the

milk, butter and cheese. Never

sell or trade the apple orchard to

another country but do sell or

trade the apples. Never sell the

farm to another country but do

sell or trade the produces of the

farm.

If we don’t get our money

under control and stop selling or

trading our productive wealth, it

means the end of the most beau-

tiful way of life the world has

ever known.

As I write this, more than 20

million Americans live 50%

below the poverty line. This fig-

ure is the highest ever recorded

in our nation’s history. History

has proven time and time again

that just throwing money at a

problem does little if any good.

Only contracts that put people

back to work building new or

repairing our old infrastructure

will solve the problem. Only in-

vestments that the nation so des-

perately needs will solve the real

and terrible problem that’s fes-

tering at the heart of this dying

country.

An Economic Problem and Its Solution

Ten million fewer hangers

will make their way to landfills

this year, thanks to the help of

Lucky Star Cleaners and other

participants of the Drycleaning

& Laundry Institute's "DLI

Cleaners Care - Hanger Recy-

cling" program. The program

began as a U.S. project but has

extended to nations abroad.

Lucky Star Cleaners for-

merly recycled 200,000 hangers

each year on its own, but by

joining with associated cleaning

businesses across the nation the

company was able to contribute

to a greater goal.

"We're proud to be part of a

program that keeps hangers out

of landfills and helps reduce our

industry's carbon footprint,"

said Josh Mooney, owner of

Lucky Star Cleaners. "We want

our customers to know that we

care about the

environment

and the future as

much as we care

about cleaning their garments."

Lucky Star Cleaners is work-

ing with many other drycleaners

on the Drycleaning & Laundry

Institute's DLI Cleaners Care

Hanger Recycling program. The

national effort aims to send 10

million fewer hangers to land-

fills in 2012, and hopes to see

that number grow beyond that.

"This program is designed to

help the environment, cus-

tomers, and cleaners," said DLI

CEO Mary Scalco. "2012 is our

first year with this program and

we're shooting for 10 million

fewer hangers in landfills. We

want to see that number grow as

awareness of the program

spreads."Participating drycleaners

pledge to reuse hangers when-ever possible and recycle unus-able hangers with local steelscrap yards. Participants will beasked to track the hangers by es-timated count and the scrap byweight. Cleaners will report re-cycling numbers to the Institute

for inclusion in the DLI Clean-ers Care Hanger Recycling Pro-gram's grand total.

Visit Lucky Star Cleaners at

www.luckystarcleaners.com.

For more information on the

program consumers and

drycleaners may contact the

Drycleaning & Laundry Insti-

tute at 800-638-2627.

Learn more about the DLI

Cleaners Care program at

www.DLIcleanerscare.org. Learn

more about the Drycleaning &

Laundry Institute at www.DLIon-

line.org.

Lucky Star Cleaners Cares About Recycling

Cleaners Join National Hanger Recycling Effort

By Crystal Laramore Lutz

EVERY New Year’s Eve

and EVERY New Year’s Day

you can find half of East Texas

at Mike & Holly King’s Ranch

on FM 2963 for their annual

Pitchin’ in the Pines rodeo.

This year marked 8 years

and I have never been! Last

year was the first year I had

heard about it. I felt like my

restaurant customers who just

“discovered” me...who have

lived here for over 100 years

and never knew...

This year Dale and I de-

cided we would close the

restaurant on New Year’s Day

and see what all the bull mess

was about at this Pitchin’ in the

Pines event.

We grabbed Jim & Laurie

McMurray, Aaron, DeAnna,

Carson & Madison Moore, our

child, bundled up and headed

west to New Waverly. There

were cars everywhere! We

were shocked! This thing is

big! We immediately ran into

Holly King and she pointed us

in the direction of sweet tea

and Whiskey Brisket!

Vendors were sprinkled

about the place but I would

have like to have seen

more...hint, hint! The weather

was perfect! The bulls on the

other hand...well...let’s just say

there were no perfect scores

that day! We sat for a good,

long while before we saw a

cowboy on a bull at the same

time we heard a buzzer. I’m

just sayin. There were only

two scores the entire 4 hours

we were there. Someone

whispered in my ear, I think it

was Cari Womack, “Mike is

famous for his bulls”. I think

that is rodeo talk but I pre-

tended I knew JUST what she

was talking about!

TDGT sat down with Mike

and Holly King to chat about

the event that few newcomers

to these parts seem to know

about but was packed none-

the-less; Pitchin' in the Pines!

It was good, wholesome fun

the entire family could enjoy,

and with very good reason;

Mike King takes pride in the

fact that he and Holly have

"made this event something to

talk about". "I rode bulls for

almost 20 years and have al-

ways had an interest in the

bucking bull industry. Holly

and I were married in a pen

like mine in which we lived in

Stephenville, Texas some 23+

years ago. We moved to this

area in 1990 and I have always

dreamed of having an annual

event to showcase BULL RID-

ING" said Mike.

Mike went on to say "People

have seen bull riding on TV,

the Houston Livestock Show

& Rodeo, or at the county fair.

But we put on a Down-In-The-

Dirt Show! My favorite say-

ing is " No Guts no Glory".

The Pitchin' in the Pines Bull

riding is normally just a New

Years Day event. This year we

made it a two day event since

New Year's Eve fell on a Sat-

urday."

TDGT: :Who are you trying to

attract?"

MK: "We attract major play-

ers of the sport such PBR bull

riders like Ronnie Kitchens

and Reece Cates who, by the

way, won each day.

TDGT: "Is there any money to

be made?"

MK: "Total purse for the two

day event was $13,500. We

added other competitions to

compliment Bull riding to add

some spice to the event such

as: a cowboy protection match,

a freestyle bullfight match,

Girls Hard money and a bull

competition each day. The

protection match is a competi-

tion in which 8 teams of 2

bullfighters/clowns compete

against each other in showcas-

ing their skills by protecting

the fallen bull riders. The

freestyle match consists of 4

bullfighters taking on a Mexi-

can fighting bull head to head

for forty seconds! Very in-

tense. The girls hard money is

a game in which the ladies get

to grab $100 off the head of on

the Mexican-type bulls.

Again, no guts no glory. And

the bull competition consisted

of a total of 20 stock contrac-

tors coming to the ranch to

knock Mike King off his

throne for having the best

bulls. Total purse for this

event was $15,600, making

payout for the weekend close

to $30,000.

TDGT: "How do you give

back to your community?"

MK: "We made donations this

year to New Waverly Library

Foundation and CYBA ( youth

baseball). It's not for personal

profit. We want to make it a

community event. I appreciate

my sponsors such as Crystal's

Bistro. Martin Autoplex of

Cleveland was our main event

sponsor this year. We are

looking forward to gaining

community support for future

events.

TDGT: "We will certainly be

showing our support! How

can people contact you if they

want to support,

become a sponsor,

be a vendor, etc. at

the event next

year?"

MK: "They can

email us hkingcow-

girl@yahoo.com or

call 281.432.9679."

Pitchin in the Pines

(Houston, Texas – Decem-ber 29, 2011) Veterans whoneed legal advice or legalassistance can visit a freelegal clinic scheduled inConroe/MontgomeryCounty on Saturday, Janu-ary 28, 2012, in conjunctionwith the new VeteransLegal Initiative, a coalitionof local bar associationsproviding pro bono legalservices to U.S. veterans in14 counties in SoutheastTexas.

The clinic will be heldJanuary 28 at VFW Post4709, 1303 West Semands,Conroe, TX 77301, from9:00 a.m. until noon. Noappointment is necessary.The clinic is sponsored bythe Montgomery CountyBar Association and TheWoodlands Bar Associa-tion, in conjunction with theHouston Bar Foundation’sVeterans Legal Initiative.

Any veteran, or spouseof a deceased veteran, canreceive advice and counselfrom a volunteer attorney in

any area of law, includingfamily, wills and probate,consumer, real estateand tax law, as well asdisability and veteransbenefits. Veterans whoneed ongoing legal rep-resentation and whoqualify for legal aid willbe assigned a pro bonoattorney to handle theircase.

The Houston BarFoundation, the Jeffer-son County Bar Founda-tion and Fort BendLawyers Care have been

awarded grants from theTexas Access to JusticeFoundation to recruit andtrain attorney volunteersand to set up Saturdaylegal clinics where veter-ans can get legal adviceand, if eligible, pro bonorepresentation. The Vet-erans Legal Initiativeserves a veteran popula-tion of approximately350,000 in Brazoria,Chambers, Fort Bend,Galveston, Grimes,Hardin, Harris, Jefferson,Liberty, Montgomery, Or-

ange, San Jacinto, Walkerand Waller counties. Otherbar associations and legalgroups in the 14 countiesare partnering with thegrantees to provide volun-teers and facilities for thelegal clinics.

The Veterans Legal Ini-tiative expands services al-ready provided by the threegrantees, including theweekly Friday afternoonclinics at the Michael E.DeBakey VA Medical Cen-ter and Saturday clinics inJefferson and Fort Bendcounties. A schedule of up-coming Saturday clinicsthroughout the 14-countyarea is posted atwww.hba.org.

For more information onthe Veterans Legal Initia-tive, contact the HoustonBar Foundation at 713-759-1133, the Jefferson CountyBar Association at 409-835-8647 or Fort Bend Lawyers

Care at 281-239-0015.

Military MinutesFree Legal Clinic for Veterans, 28 Jan - Conroe

Blake on the Lake

Sports & Outdoors

By Blake Kellum, SJRA

That’s right, areareservoirs are starting tofeel the benefits of coolertemperatures and winterrainfalls to begin re-bounding from 2011record heat and drought.

Lake Conroe’s levelrose slightly over the lastmonth, by almost ½ foot,due in part to reduced

evaporation, and suspen-sion of diversions to theCity of Houston. While nosignificant rainfall eventsoccurred in December,the SJRA recorded al-most 4 inches of accumu-lated precipitation at theDam. With evaporationaveraging less than .10 ofan inch per day, the accu-mulation from these rainsis sustaining good soilmoisture conditions thatshould allow for more sig-nificant runoff from anyrainfall received in thenear future. One thing to

keep in mind is that LakeConroe’s water shed isonly 444 square miles,which is relatively smallfor a 21,000 surface acrereservoir. Significant pre-cipitation not only needsto come regularly but hasto hit the bulls-eye, so tospeak, of the upper halfof the water shed tomake any real impact tolake level.

In summary, LakeConroe is in about asgood a position to cap-ture some rainfall/runoffas it has been in the last

12months.As of this

morning, Lake Conroe’sLevel is just above the 8foot low mark at193.05msl. There are noreleases being madefrom the Dam at this time.

Likewise, Lake Liv-ingston has recoveredmore than 2 1/4 feet inlevel, and has stabilizedat elevation 129.25. Thisis up from a low of 126.91recorded on November12, 2011, and only 1 ¾foot below normal pool el-evation of 131.00msl.Recent rains in its mas-

sive 17,000 square miledrainage area have fun-neled down over the lastmonth to significantly im-prove conditions forrecreational users. Un-fortunately, without furtherrainfall events upstreamthis trend will start backdown soon. TRA is cur-rently releasing 1000cfsfrom the Livingston Damfor use by downstreamstakeholders.

For more informationgo to www.sjra.net orwww.trinityra.org. Best Wishes to all for the New

Year, and Get Out There Ya’ll!

Lake levels rebound slightly for 2012!

Store

Coldspring@

Call Marilyn at:

Look for the Red & White storage units behind the car wash.

936.653.5501

Woodsy Hollow! Our favorite new discovery!You can discover them too @ www.woodsyhollow.com

By Sharon & West Faison

Travel Consultants

2012 is officially here,with lots of self-madepromises and resolutions.Tv coverage is all aboutone caucus or another,self-help programs arebeing being advertisedwith one special after an-other, and as always,mattress companies stillhave sales! Here's hop-ing that if one of yourgoals is to stop smoking,you are successful. Hopeyou all have a healthy,wealthy, safe and happynew year! If you plan totravel and wonder whereto go this new year, youmight be interested in thefollowing.

What are the top 10vacation destinations?

1. PARIS Like all greatcities, you can spendmonths in Paris andbarely scratch the surfaceof the city's cultural treas-ures. It has museumsgalore, stellar shoppingand busy cafes perfectfor people watching.2. NEW YORK NewYork is true to its rootsand is a city full of immi-grants with inspiring ar-chitecture and a thrivingart scene. Take in a

show on Broadway, shopin SoHo, spend a lazyday in Central Park, andexplore the city's diverseneighborhoods.3. ROME, ITALY TheEternal City celebrates itslong history withchurches, monumentsand restored ruins thatoffer a glimpse into thelife during the days of thegreat Roman Empire.Celebrate the city's rootsand emerse yourself inthe culture over a heap-ing bowl of pasta and ataste of gelato.4. CANCUN, MEXICOMiles of beaches andendless luxurious ac-commodations and anonstop party attitude inCancun have trans-formed this once sleepyvillage on the Yucatancoast into one of Mexico'smost popular tourist at-tractions, particularly dur-ing Spring Break.5. LONDON, ENGLANDLondon is a cosmopolitancity with a unique blendof historic traditions, anda hip, modern culture.You can enjoy tea andcrumpets and celebratethe city's royal roots be-fore heading out to a slickgastropub for gourmetdinner and drinks.6. MIAMI, FLORIDA TheAmerican Riviera, Holly-wood of the East, SoBe,or the Art Deco District -whatever you call it,Miami's South Beach ishot year round. The em-bodiment of success,South Beach is an inter-national playground offer-

ing non-stop night life,sandy shores and uniquearchitecure and plenty ofeye candy.7. ORLANDO, FLORIDAThere is fun around everycorner with wild rollercoasters, twisting water-slides and theme parkfun. Mickey Mouse cer-tainly plays a starring rolein the festivities, butthere's plenty of magicbeyond the realm of Dis-ney.8. SAN FRANCISCO,CALIFORNIA Bring ahearty appetite and goodwalking shoes to the Cityby the Bay. For a quin-tessential San Franciscoexperience, climb aboarda cable car, peruse thefarm-freshgoods at theFerry Market,stroll throughGolden GatePark, take theferry ride andtour of Alca-traz for atouch of his-tory and greatcity views.9. MYRTLEBEACH,SOUTH CAR-OLINA Asthe largest re-sort alongSouth Car-olina's 60 mileGrand Strand,Myrtle Beachis the EastCoast's ulti-mate vacationhub. Thetown teemswith summer-

time action along theStrand with beaches,amusement and waterparks, restaurants andlive entertainment andhost of hotels ready topamper guests youngand old.10. BRANSON, MIS-SOURI Branson is anunassuming vacationdestination with smalltown charm and big cityentertainment in the heartof the Ozark Mountains.Millions of visitors comeeach year to see a showat any of the 50 theatersand enjoy outdoor fun onthe lake.

Cruising is always an-other great way to go andsee several destinations,

and in our area, we arelucky to be able to sailout of Galveston and nothassle with the airports.

Fairs, festivals and foodfests abound in our area.Several of us are planning aroad trip trek toRockport/Fulton, TexasMarch 1 - 4, 2012 to the Ful-ton Annual Oysterfest. Be-sides the opportunity toenjoy these tasty morsels,there will seafood galore,music and fun galore. Comejoin us!

FYI, the oyster is used as a

metaphor in an idomatic saying

"The world is your oyster" which

means that if you pursue your

dreams and work hard enough,

you will eventually reach the

pearl within the world.

Travel, Travel

Celebrating 10 YEARS!! 2001 - 2011“Making Coldpspring weird like Austin!”

Pizza Day at

the Bistro!Thursday is...

Buy a large pizza and get a medium FREE!*

To stay: 936.653.8282To go: 936.653.8383

*� ursdays Only. Limit 2 toppings on � ee pizza.

Live Music!!Thurs-Sat.

Call for lineup

By Deborah Martin

WOW! What a year! Right

off the bat I can say that it has

absolutely FLOWN by! We

have completed the first decade

of the 21st century. Hard to be-

lieve, isn’t it?

I hardly know where to start

when I think of summing up this

year. First, I resolved not to

make any resolutions. They’re

always pretty much the same –

lose weight, save more money,

get the creeps (usually of the

male variety) out of my life

once and for all. You know the

drill. We all do it.

All I really want is to make

my life better a little at a time

and I already know how to do

that. It worked pretty well for

me this year. I determined to

make it a happy year, a produc-

tive year. I kept that goal in

mind even though it was way

too vague to even qualify like

the time-determined, mind-

stretching, make-you-sweat

goals that my friends try. But

you know what? That was okay

because I’m not in a contest

with anyone and

I’m getting to the

age where not

reaching a goal is

not the worst

thing in the world. I’m much

more Zen about goals and proj-

ects.

But enough about that sub-

ject. Work was especially busy

this year. Not sure why but

more people wanted a piece of

my time and usually I couldn’t

think of a good reason to say no.

I’m not the type to say no just

on general principles. There has

to be a good reason to refuse a

reasonable request. So I did a

lot. And it kept me pretty busy

during my 40 hour a week day

job.

My personal life also perked

up a bit. I finally got S.B. (you

remember him…broke my heart

in a gazillion pieces?) out of my

heart and mostly out of my life.

Actually, I’ve found a happy in

between place where his voice

no longer makes me sad and I’m

actually glad he’s doing well.

And he me.

On that note I didn’t quite

have a huge romance this year

but do have an ongoing friend-

ship with a very sweet guy.

What a blessing he is. He’s

helped me heal quite a bit.

Here’s the thing that’s different

this year. I’m not ready for any-

thing permanent so the friend-

ships I have with the males of

the species are a lot more re-

laxed. No demands or expecta-

tions other than mutual respect

and fun. You know, I think I

may have hit on something

here! Hmmmm…

We had a wonderful event in

our family in 2011. We added

another grandchild – a BOY!

After 5 beautiful, wonderful,

sweet girls we finally have a lit-

tle boy who, incidentally, looks

just like his daddy! Has the

same temperament, too. Very

laid back and happy. Smiles a

lot! This is a special blessing

since my son has been battling

illness for almost a year and a

half now. Thank you, God, for

sweet babies. They are nature’s

tranquilizer. I can feel the en-

dorphins rush in just thinking

about him.

2011 started our political

cycle and I really don’t enjoy

that stuff. I’m trying to be nice

here by saying ‘don’t enjoy’ in-

stead of ‘really hate’. Debates

and speeches and ads and –

blech!! I don’t

Continued on page 35

By Slim Randles

When it’s cold, build a fire in

the fireplace, or the woodburn-

ing heater, or maybe just light a

candle and look in the flames,

look deep in the flames for the

answers.

I’ve always believed they are

there, and this time of year is a

time for questions. It is a time to

weigh the events of the past year

and toss them around and ask

why.

It has been a good year for

each of us in some respects, and

a bad year in others. Just like

every year.

A few of our young people

died this year. Others were born.

Some precious old-timers left

us, too, but at least they’d had

the chance to hang and rattle

and turn gray. It was the young

ones that make us ask the tough

questions.

But there were also the beau-

tiful things that happened this

last year. People went out of

their way to help others. People

tried valiantly to better them-

selves. Some did it by studying

a foreign language. Some did it

by taking wood shop at the com-

munity college. Dewey did it by

managing to get acquainted with

his dream woman. Doc held an-

other of his unique golf tourna-

ments to raise money for winter

clothes for kids. The old Miller

dairy got pulled down. Many of

us were worried about kids play-

ing in there and getting hurt. It

really wasn’t safe any more.

And while we’ll miss seeing it

out there, with that big tobacco

ad painted on its roof, we’d miss

having those kids around even

more. You make decisions and

hope for the best.

There were some new homes

built this year, and Steve has

been spending more and more

time in his cabin up in the

mountains not too far from

Jasper Blankenship’s mining

claim. Steve just needed a

hole-up spot. A place

where a cowboy can go

and no one can kick him out.

And so our world says goodbye

to another year and we’ll hope

the next one is better, and it

probably will be. Life brings the

good and the bad together at this

time of year and helps us wash

our lives with a laugh and a tear

and a dollop of forgiveness.

---------------

Brought to you by Slim’s

award-winning advice book “A

Cowboy’s Guide to Growing Up

Right.” Start your year off right

at

http://www.nmsantos.com/Slim/

Slim.html.

CommentaryGood News GazetteA Year to Remember!

Home Country

Commentary

BY BOB BOWMAN

When the HoustonChronicle decided to stopdelivering its daily edi-tions to homes in Lufkinand Angelina County, itsevered a connection thatreaches back more thana century.

In 1908, the Chroniclewas acquired in part byJesse H. Jones, whogrew up in the lumberbusiness connected toEast Texas. His uncleM.T. Jones founded thesawmill town of Emporianear Diboll in 1882 andowned other sawmills atOrange.

Jesse also foundedhis own lumber companyin Houston before enter-ing the newspaper busi-ness. He became the

Chronicle’s sole owner in1926.

During World War I,Jones managed militaryrelief for the AmericanRed Cross at the requestof President WoodrowWilson. In the 1930s, an-other president, HerbertHoover, appointed Jonesto chair the Reconstruc-tion Finance Corporationto combat the Great De-pression, becoming oneof the most powerful menin America.

After flirting with thevice-presidential nomina-tion in 1940, Jones wasoffered the post of secre-tary of commerce, butwas allowed to keep an-other federal title, head ofthe Federal Loan Agency,which superseded theRFC.

In the late 1930s,when Southland PaperMills, Inc., was foundedat Lufkin, Jesse Jonessteered RFC money tothe mill’s construction.And when the mill began

making the first newsprintfrom Southern pine treesin 1940, the Chroniclewas among its first cus-tomers and continued tobuy paper made in Lufkinfor a half-century.

Two Lufkinites--MorrisFrank and Clayte Binion--became prominentChronicle employees.Both were newspaper-men in Lufkin and Bin-ion’s family owned theforerunner of the LufkinDaily News.Frank, who wrote aChronicle column, “OfCabbages and Kings,”also became one ofAmerica’sbest knowntoastmasters.He oftenspoke inLufkin, alwaysstarting hisspeecheswith “UncleJesse sendshis regards,”even thoughJones wasn’t

a blood relative.Binion became an ex-

ecutive in the Chronicle’snews room and was re-sponsible for the creationof a Chronicle East Texasbureau at Lufkin in 1959.I was lucky enough to be-come the first bureauchief.Every time I made a tripto the Chronicle buildingin downtown Houston,Binion and Frank alwaysasked me about “the folksin Lufkin.”

I always stayed atJones’ Rice Hotel acrossthe street from the Chron-icle. He also owned aHouston radio stationknown as KTRH. The lastthree letters stood for

“The Rice Hotel.” While working for the

Chronicle, I wrote my firstbook on East Texas ghosttowns.

No one in Lufkinknows why the Chroniclepulled out of Lufkin, but itwas a frothy issue in townfor a few weeks, espe-cially because the Chron-icle decided to continuehome deliveries at Corri-gan, south of Lufkin--atown with about 31,000less people.

(Bob Bowman is theauthor of more than 50books about East Texashistory and folklore. Hecan be reached at bob-bowman.com.)

Bob Bowman’s East TexasA historical link is severed

Living Well from the

Inside Out Seminar Hosted by:

Dr. Karla Bruning &

Jimmie Lee

Wednesday Jan 18th 6 pm

Crystal’s Bistro

936.653.8282

Commentary

By Crystal Laramore Lutz

Last month's paper received

A LOT of praise...I am humbled.

One of the things that makes

publishing this paper so much

fun is that I really am preaching

to my choir. The other thing

that makes it fun is when some-

one from another choir acci-

dently-on-purpose reads the

words to my song and takes of-

fense. My pastor once said "Of-

fense is one of the Devil's best

tools. If he can get you of-

fended, you are not in a God-

like state of mind." There are

sooooooooo many times a week

I think about that statement even

though I heard it over a decade

ago. Good lesson I suppose.

When people tell me that I

offended them I typically say

"No I didn't. You just got of-

fended. " I really want to say,

"I'm sorry that you are so weak

of mind that you actually think I

have that much power over

YOUR emotions!" But I'm little

and I know my limitations. If

someone ever hit me, it would

hurt. Anyway, some people

close to me wondered aloud if I

would offend anyone by last

month's paper. If I did, they

were gracious and kept it to

themselves. I love gracious

people.

Last week's newspaper fo-

cused on "Who is John Galt?".

If you don't know who he is,

read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn

Rand. My BFF in the whole

wide world finally read it. But

it did take that particular edition

of The Dam Good Times to

prompt her to remove it from

her bookshelf and place it

(open) in her little lap. When

she finished she said "I finally

finished that dam(ned) book!"

Oh my! The book frustrated her

because it was written so long

ago but sounds so much like

today. I read Atlas Shrugged

over 20 years ago and it was ap-

plicable then. But I do agree, it

seems we are living Atlas

Shrugged today as well! Why?

Well, seriously, I'm not gonna

tell you! You have to suffer

through the 3000 or so pages

yourself. Actually, I never suf-

fered. I LOVED the book!

Over the years I have often

wondered if Rush Limbaugh

read Atlas Shrugged. It was my

number one question for him

just in case I EVER got through.

Well I didn't but he did. Thank

goodness he answered my ques-

tion himself one day on the

air...like he just knew I was out

there...wondering...

One of my New Year's Reso-

lutions is to not let my staff of-

fend me or allow them to hold

me hostage. How does this re-

late to my beloved Atlas

Shrugged? Well, in that society

people are way overboard with

the “I want all the perks but

none of the responsibility” phi-

losophy. Anyway, it only took

me until today to get tested on

that resolution. (Today is 4 Jan-

uary.) I asked one of my em-

ployees to come into work a few

hours early since that employee

went home early...ON NEW

YEAR'S EVE! And did not

show up to help the rest of the

staff clean on Tuesday. My em-

ployee’s (from my Bistro) re-

sponse was "not for 2.25/hour I

won't".

First of all, let's just say that I

did, for a moment, revert to my

old ways; emotionally reactive,

fear of abandonment ways. The

original response was "Well, I

hardly think you only make

$2.25/hour when you average it

all out. We are very good to you

here. Your station needs a good

cleaning so just make sure you

are here in time to clean really

well and prep." Then I

snapped out of my "I must

have stupid and desperate tat-

tooed on my forehead" mode

and said "OK. You don't have

to come in at all. See ya Fri-

day!" Then I promptly re-

placed her on the schedule.

No one is offended. Someone

else picks up a night time shift.

I didn't break out in hives or

scream. All is well with the uni-

verse. Well, I do still own a

restaurant so that may be an

overstatement.

But I wonder if the greater

point isn't that someone who

needs the money just lost out on

a shift because they are short-

sighted? Do people REALLY

think like that? This particular

employee makes more than

ANYONE at the restaurant. It's

a great position and the tips are

crazy! I usually pitch in and

make employee look good, too.

Less work, more money...but

will not come in for a couple of

extra hours because employee

looks at it as just a $2.25 job.

Incredible. Or, maybe employee

had better things to do and that

was just an excuse. ..

Random Thought on PaperAtlas Shrugged & So Did I

The 411th Judicial Dis-trict consists of Polk, Trin-ity and San JacintoCounties. Jones, a na-tive of Livingston, Texas,graduated from Liv-ingston High School in1993. She then attendedTexas A&M Universitygraduating with a Bache-lor of Arts in History andEnglish. After graduatingfrom Texas A&M in 1997Jones attended SuffolkUniversity Law School in

Boston, Massachusetts.In 2001, after graduatinglaw school Jones re-turned home to her nativePolk County. Licensed topractice law in 2002, shehas been employed as anAssistant Criminal DistrictAttorney for the PolkCounty Criminal DistrictAttorney’s Office sinceOctober of 2002. Shebegan her career at theDistrict Attorney’s Officeprosecuting juvenile

crime and in February of2005 transferred to thefelony division of the of-fice. During her time atthe District Attorney’s Of-fice Jones has prose-cuted numerous types ofcrimes from misde-meanors to capital mur-der. In addition to herprosecuting crimes Joneshad also handled ChildProtective Services casesand advises the PolkCounty Commissioners

Court in matters of civillaw. She feels that shewill offer a new perspec-tive with a conservativevoice for the 411th Judi-cial District. Jones looksforward to serving hercommunity in a new ca-pacity, but one that willallow her to continuehelping to protect its citi-zens. Jones is a memberof the Rotary Club of Liv-ingston, having served asa past director of theclub. She has served onthe Polk County Relay forLife committee for sixyears. Jones is also a

member of the Board ofDirectors for ChildrenzHaven, the Polk CountyChild Advocacy Center,whose mission is to helpchild abuse victims. Sheis a past member of thePilot Club of Livingston,having served as secre-tary and participating inthe club’s annual TurkeyDinner. Jones is a life-long member of CentralBaptist Church where sheis a member of the per-sonnel committee andhas taught children’sSunday school classes.

Kaycee L. Jones Announced her Candidacyas a Republican candidate for 411th Judicial District Judge

Commentary

By Paula Garcia

I had to go to the doctor's of-

fice today for a breathing treat-

ment and an allergy shot. I was

talking to my daughter in law,

Natalie and she asked me if I

was allergic to ragweed and I

told her I thought I was. But

then I realized I don't even

know what ragweed looks like.

I asked her and she didn't know

either. I told her there was a

plant that had come up in my

yard and it was really pretty and

I had been messing with it a lot.

I figure with my luck it is proba-

bly ragweed.

Later in the day, I was talk-

ing to my other daughter in law,

Marcella and we were talking

about plants and weeds and so

forth and I asked her if she knew

what ragweed looked like. Now

she is not really a plant person

so I didn't really figure she did,

but thought I would ask.

Nope....she did not know either.

I proceeded to tell her about the

new plant that had come up in

my yard, but, by this time, I had

found another one. That

brought up the question "Who

decides what is a plant and what

is a weed?"

This is obviously a native

plant and it is really pretty, but I

did not plant it. So, if a bird did

not eat the seed and then "de-

posit" it in my yard, this just

came up? Does that make it a

weed? It is a climbing vine and

has weird little pods on it. They

make little purplish blue flow-

ers. I guess one thing that may

make the determination is if it

becomes invasive. But, does

that make it a weed?

I love wisteria plants and

they grow wild up here in the

national forest along with dog-

wood trees and Carolina jas-

mine. I guess some people may

consider them weeds but I think

they are gorgeous. Now, the

husband does not like wisteria.

He considers it a nuisance, but

he did build me an arbor for

mine in the back yard. It has

just gone crazy growing, espe-

cially since we got these two

good rains. It has really pretty

purple flowers. I got another

cutting from my niece off her

white one and it is growing on

the garden fence, the trees and

the gate, but not one flower..

So, who got the job of deter-

mining and deciding what is a

weed and what is not? I have

never given this much thought,

just took people's word for it.

They either say “oh no, let that

grow, that is a pretty plant” or

“oh no pull that up that is a

weed”. I think from now on be-

fore I pull something up, I am

going to give it a chance and see

what it does. I guess in my own

yard I can determine if I want to

call it a plant or a weed.!

I have been seeing the orange

honeysuckle growing wild all

over the neighbor's fences and

on the trees on the road to our

house. My husband told me

those are just wild honeysuckles

but, I liked them and decided I

was going to try to grow them.

Well that did not work! I had to

go to the nursery and buy one.

It may be just a wild honey-

suckle, but the nursery was quite

proud of those wild plants.

Same with Carolina jasmine. I

had one so big in Houston that it

pulled my mailbox up but had to

try several plantings here be-

fore I got them to going good

enough to come back the next

year.

Well this started out to be an

article about weed vs. plants, but

as I have been writing, I have

been thinking about the different

plants I have tried and the differ-

ent kinds of luck I have had with

them. I had hydrangeas that I

had from my mom's funeral. I

babied them and babied them

but they eventually just died

away. My friend, Albertine, told

Continued on Page 19

Weeds Vs Plants Vs Weeds and other stuff

By Matt Bruner

Sitting next to my deskis a polished slab ofagate rock that was givento me by Kelly’s brotherand his wife. I have acouple of items sitting onthe agate slab, both ofthem representing oldand new. The first item isan “Apache Tear.” It is asmall stone made of vol-canic glass. I have had itfor a couple of weeks,when it was given to me

by a friend. It was likelyspewed out by a volcaniceruption many, many life-times ago. New to me,old to us.

The other item is agood conduct medal myfather was awarded dur-ing World War II. It wasgiven to me last year bymy uncle, who was theobvious recipient of myfather’s treasures before Iarrived. Old to him, newto me. I investigatedgood conduct medals onthe internet today. Theyare awarded for “exem-plary behavior, efficiency,fidelity.” The generalmeaning of exemplarybehavior is pretty obvi-ous, as is efficiency. Fi-delity is more subjective,so I investigated it’s

meaning as well. Myfirst idea of the mean-ing was actually the

third definition – “conjugalfaithfulness.” That is anadmirable quality, butprobably not the person-ality trait the military wasobserving for the pur-poses of awardingmedals. The first andsecond definitions were“observance of promises,duties,” and “loyalty.”

Sure enough, the mili-tary good conduct criterialists first and foremost,“(to) comply with the de-mands of the military en-vironment,” and “(to be)loyal and obedient.”

At this moment, I re-member a story I was toldonce, that suddenlyseems to have somethingto do with this topic. Thestory was told in regard to

weddings, and the obser-vances of the promisesmade. According to thestory, a woman commit-ted suicide after her hus-band had an extendedaffair. She left a note, ex-plaining that she couldbear the weakness of herhusband, but she couldnot bear to face herfriends again, who be-trayed their promises toher by not telling herabout the affair. Thepoint of the story was thatattending a wedding isnot for the party. It is tobe a witness – to supportthe couple and “kick themback in line” should theystray. That stuff of askingfor any objections and thelike is serious businessfor serious people.

My point of this digres-sion is that the honoring

of promises is a founda-tion of civilized society, beit giving bad news to afriend, or dying for yourcountry. A wedding is apromise to work as one.A bill of sale is a promiseto fulfill the terms. Acopyright is a promise toobserve the rights ofownership. A citizenshipis the promise to enjoyrights but respect limita-tions.

My father grew up in atime where a handshakewas a contract, and apromise was a guaran-tee. He was a great man,but I don’t know that hewas a distinguished sol-dier. He was independ-ent minded and scarysmart. But good conductcame easy for him - all hehad to do was keep hisword.

Good Conduct

Commentary

By Doc Fennessy

“No arsenal, or noweapon in the arsenals ofthe world, is as formida-ble as the will and moralcourage of free men andwomen.” – {Ronald Rea-gan}. Wow, this is for allwho vote no matter yourpolitical views. In spite ofPresident Barack Hus-sain Obama 93 recordedlies to the mesmerizedvoters to elect him to of-fice and be re-elected tooffice, the following:“Barack Obama's 32Month Report Card” hasbeen compiled by{Anonymous} and hereto-fore presented. Wake upAmericans, this country inis critical trouble! Weknow that you will findmost of this nauseating,as many others do....However, someone com-piled the facts and we re-ally do need to get themout there. These areglaring ways of changethat are NOT positive forour country and our peo-ple... We need to con-tinue to get the word outto prepare for 2012.It is interesting that a

gallon of regular gasolinethe day Obama was inau-gurated was $1.79 on av-erage in the UnitedStates. Today that priceis about $3.59 [or abovein many places], a100.6% increase. Thenumber of food stamp re-

cipients has risen sinceObama took office from31,983,716 to43,200,878, a 35.1%jump. Long term unem-ployment soared 146.2%during the same 32month period from2,600,000 to 6,400,000.Staggering hope andchange isn't it? American citizens living inpoverty have risen 9.5%from 39,800,000 to43,600,000, and the num-ber of unemployed hasjumped almost 25% from11,616,000 to 14,485,000as of August 31, 2011.The number of unem-ployed blacks has risenfrom 12.6% at the end ofGeorge Bush's term to15.8% today, a 25.4% in-crease, and finally, ournational debt is up 34.4%from 10.627 trillion to14,278 trillion. Thesources of this informa-tion are the: U.S. EnergyInformation Administra-tion, Wall Street Journal,Bureau of Labor Statis-tics, US Dept of Labor,Standard & Poors/Case-Shiller, Federal Reserve,US Treasury and TheHeritage Foundation.

The number of firsts forthis presidency is thatBarack Hussain Obamais the: First President torefuse to show a validbirth certificate. * FirstPresident to apply for col-lege aid as a foreign stu-dent, then denies he was

a foreigner. * First Presi-dent to have a social se-curity number from astate he has never livedin. * First President topreside over a cut to thecredit rating of the UnitedStates. * First Presidentto violate the War PowersAct. * First President tobe held in contempt ofcourt for illegally obstruct-ing oil drilling in the Gulfof Mexico. * First Presi-dent to defy a FederalJudges court order tocease implementing theHealth Care Reform Law.* First President to re-quire all Americans topurchase a product froma third party. * First Presi-dent to spend a trilliondollars on shovel-readyjobs and later admit therewas no such thing asshovel-ready jobs.Obama is the first Presi-

dent to abrogate bank-ruptcy law to turn overcontrol of companies tohis union supporters. *First President to by-passCongress and implementthe Dream Act throughexecutive fiat. * FirstPresident to order a se-cret amnesty programthat stopped the deporta-tion of illegal immigrantsacross the U.S., includingthose with criminal con-victions. * First Presidentto demand a companyhand-over $20 billion toone of his political ap-pointees. * First Presidentto terminate Americasability to put a man inspace. * First President toencourage racial discrimi-

nation and intimidation atpolling places. * FirstPresident to have a lawsigned by an auto-penwithout being present. *First President to arbitrar-ily declare an existing lawunconstitutional and re-fuse to enforce it. * FirstPresident to threaten in-surance companies ifthey publicly speak-outon the reasons for theirrate increases. * FirstPresident to tell a majormanufacturing companyin which state they are al-lowed to locate a factory. Obama is the first Presi-

dent to file lawsuitsagainst the states heswore an oath to protect(AZ, WI, OH, IN). * FirstPresident to withdraw anexisting coal permit thathad been properly issuedyears ago. * First Presi-dent to fire an inspectorgeneral of Ameri-corpsfor catching one of hisfriends in a corruptioncase. * First President toappoint 32 Czars to re-place elected officials inhis office. * First Presi-dent to golf 73 separatetimes in his first two anda half years in office. *First President to hide hismedical, educational andtravel records. * FirstPresident to win a NobelPeace Prize for doingNOTHING to earn it. *First President to coddleAmerican enemies whilealienating America’s al-lies. * First President topublicly bow to Americasenemies while refusing tosalute the U.S. Flag.

Barack Obama is thefirst President to go onmultiple global apologytours. * First President togo on 17 lavish vaca-tions, including datenights and Wednesdayevening White Houseparties for his friends,paid for by the taxpayer. *First President to initiallyrefuse to wear the U.S.Flag lapel pin. * FirstPresident to have 22 per-sonal servants (taxpayerfunded) for his wife. *First President to keep adog trainer on retainer for$102,000.00 a year attaxpayer expense. * FirstPresident to repeat theHoly Qur'an tells us, andopenly admits the earlymorning call of the Azan(Islamic call to worship) isthe most beautiful soundon earth.

Remember folks thatthe first 32 months [now34 and there is more!] ofObama White House wethe people have accumu-lated national debt at arate more than 27 timesas fast as during the restof our nation's entire his-tory, as the Obama's plantheir next extravagant va-cation to the IndonesianIsland nation of Bali butthen changed to Hawaii.Hope and change youpeople that were fooledand voted for him and willprobably vote for himagain. Wake up Ameri-cans! Any of those de-bating candidates will dobetter if elected. And yesfolks, “THE BEAT GOESON!!!”

No Matter What Your Political ViewsAre – You Should Consider TheseFacts Prior To Voting In 2012

Commentary

Weeds and other stuff contin-

ued from page 17

me she just watered, watered,

watered, so I tried again. They

lasted a couple of years but then

they bit the dust. Well, the hus-

band gave me a big potted one

for Mother's day last year and I

decided to leave it in the pot.

This year I realized what she

meant by watering...I take a big

pitcher of water out there about

once a week and fill it to the top

with water and let it drain thru.

It has done wonders...That plant

has tripled in size this year...

I also tried the angel trumpet

plants that are so gorgeous.

They now get huge during the

spring and summer but they die

down in the winter. But, I

thought that was it for them and

here they came back up the

next year right beside the

old plants; so far every

year. Not so for my Texas

yellow bells or my Confed-

erate Roses that I see

growing every where. This

past winter got both of

them. Now I am trying to

find some Bridal Wreath

plants. My cousin had

some at her house on Col-

lard street and they were so

pretty, but, I was never

there at the right time to get a

cutting and I haven't been able

to find them. Any suggestions,

anyone?

We haven't just tried plants,

we have tried trees and grasses.

We have spent a small fortune in

St Augustine grass to no

avail......same with Centipede

grass. You know, the one that is

supposed to grow good in the

shade and under pine trees?

Well, nobody told ours that. It

did not do squat. This year, I

think it was in June when we

were expecting one of the first

tropical storms (that we did not

get), we thought it would be a

good time to try St Augustine

one more time. SO, here we

went again. We got it all laid

out and it looked so good and

we sat back to wait for the rain.

Well, everyone knows about

that! Here we were in one of

the worst droughts in years and

we have a front yard full of new

grass. I don't know how we did

it, and thank God we have a

well and not city water but we

kept that grass green. I can't tell

you how tickled I was when I

went out there and saw that it

was starting to trail out. So,

now my fingers are crossed and

hoping that we don't have a

killer winter. Yes, I know, there

were many worse things the

drought did than just make it

hard for me to grow grass and I

have done what I could for those

things. I have kept out bird feed

and water and I have donated to

the people who lost everything.

I just thought of this and I don't

want anyone to think I put more

importance on this yard that the

devastation that many people

have endured this year.

Well, I realize this article

only has so much space to fit in,

so I guess I had better end it on

this note. Hope you enjoyed

reading and I will see you next

week. Thanks for reading.

By Matt Bruner

The economy around Hous-

ton has suffered in recent years,

no doubt. But it has been noth-

ing like the downturn experi-

enced in other parts of our

nation. Many northern cities

have been devastated. Atlanta, a

town I know well, probably falls

somewhere in the middle.

As a landlord, I have wit-

nessed many changes. Prior to

the downturn, most of my

renters were Hispanic. To be

more accurate in my description,

they were Mexican. All spoke

Spanish as their primary lan-

guage, a majority were not con-

versant in English. Most were

in the US illegally, and many

would share their stories about

coming to the US through the

river or across the desert. They

worked here in construction, at

fast food, as maids and garden-

ers.

I will save our political dis-

cussion of immigration for an-

other time. My point is when

the economy faltered, probably

80 to 90 percent of the Mexi-

cans left. Their employers

stopped employing and there

was no work, so they left for

more prosperous parts of the

country or just went home. One

I knew well, Martin provided a

prosperous life for his family.

In a small town in Mexico, his

family lived in a 3 bedroom, 2

bath home that rivaled the size

of the town mayor’s home. Be-

fore his job went away, Martin

left Atlanta for better prospects.

Atlanta had been experienc-

ing a building boom which, had

gone on pretty much from the

1970s until a few years ago.

Across the northern suburbs,

builders were building huge and

beautiful homes to sell for more

than $1 million each. When the

party stopped, these homes sat

unfinished, many framed and

sheathed until very recently.

Five years after the crew threw

their tools in the truck and went

home, exposed plywood delami-

nated in the sun and rain, piles

of construction debris

slowly rotted from the

bottom, and scavengers

pulled any recyclable

metals from the shells.

Likewise, retail

spaces lined the roads.

On a trip to Atlanta last

year, I observed that

about 90 percent of the

retail space along the

road connecting my

place to stay with my

place to work was va-

cant. More recently,

some of it has occupants,

but one wonders if they

are making a living, pay-

ing the bills, or slowly

failing.

The part of all of this that hit

home the most, so-to-speak, was

the value of my property. I have

not had an appraisal, but I do

not need one to know things

have changed. Someone bought

a property near mine. They paid

about the same per unit that I

paid in 1990. It is one thing to

buy a home with little down and

be upside down. It is another to

see twenty years of equity van-

ish. I suppose it has recovered

some, but probably not a lot.

I started writing this with a

point to make, but I have forgot-

ten where I was going with it

all. I will just say that here in

Texas we have been fortunate

with our economic conditions. I

will also say that if you were

smart and careful, if you did

things right, you are not to

blame for what has happened.

Don’t believe the politicians

when they try to place the blame

at your feet. It is a lie.

Political: Where Blame Lies

J. Michael GowdyJ. Michael GowdyCPACPA

Paula McIntyreCPA, CFP

Gowdy McIntyre & Co. P.C.

“Our Mission is to help our clients and ourselves achieve more than we e than weCPA, CFPCPA, CFPCPA, CFP

both ever thought possible.”

The Dam Gossip

First and foremost Ipledge to serve and pro-tect the citizens of thisprecinct, their families,and their property to thebest of my ability throughthe institution of proac-tive policing, patrol, trafficand drug enforcement.We are in the beginningstages of the formation ofa multi county jurisdic-tional task force for nar-cotics enforcement toinclude undercover oper-ations and k9 detection.It is our opinion that asignificant part of criminalactivities stem from theuse and trafficking of ille-gal narcotics in our com-munity, and if we addressthe problem at its mainsource through our en-forcement efforts we will

significantly reduce therates of criminal activity.Any revenue raised fromseizures will go partly tolocal programs to edu-cate young persons ondrug and alcohol aware-

ness, drug deterrenceand even recovery assis-tance.

Other revenues willbe used to acquire volun-teer deputies to assistwith departmental dutiesand obligations. We in-tend to serve all civil andcriminal process in theprecinct in a timely man-

ner, and assist thecounty judge with anymental health warrants orother issues when appli-cable. I am fully qualifiedto run an agency of thistype with due diligenceand competency and Ihave the training and ex-perience to do so.

I further pledge to put

the needs of the commu-nity first and foremost onthe agencies agenda atall times.

William "Bill" Marks

Dear Neighbor,

My name is Sam

Houston, Republican

Candidate for Con-

stable in San Jac-

into County,

Precinct 3. I am mar-

ried and I am a father tosix girls and one son.

I was raised with thevalues of honesty, hardwork, individual responsi-bility and respect for thelaw which, led me into acareer in law enforce-ment. I am an Army vet-eran, I attended theUniversity of TexasHealth and Science Cen-ter, Houston CommunityCollege and MontgomeryCounty Sheriff’s Depart-ment Academy.

I have been a police

officer for 30+years hav-ing worked the majorityof this time in East Mont-gomery County.

I am a veteran of theHouston Fire Departmentwhere my career beganin 1977; I have since re-tired and now own a re-tail grocery store inPrecinct 3 of San JacintoCounty.

I am active in mycommunity serving as amember of the AmericanLegion and the DisabledAmerican Veterans andcontinue to participate inevents to benefit variouscharitable organizations.

As your Constable, Iwill work with our Justiceof the Peace in order toensure that papers is-sued to me from the Jus-tice Courts are swiftlyserved. I will assist otherlocal law enforcementagencies in keeping thepeace in our neighbor-hoods. Community polic-ing and working closelywith the various Commu-nity-wide neighborhoodwatch programs will be ofthe utmost importanceduring my tenure.

I want to start an hon-orary Youth & Senior Citi-zen ride along program

to better educate ourcommunity on the dutiesof the Constable andkeep our office in touchwith the residents andcommunity which weserve. During my tenureas Constable an “OpenDoor” policy will alwaysbe in effect.

I will be a Constablefor all people, and willbring accountability tothe office that touches somany lives in our com-munity…

Sam Houston

Bill Marks for Precinct 3 Constable

Last Week’s Answers

Crossword Puzzle

Across1. The most outstanding or ex-

cellent

5. Fastener

10. Rib section of veal or pork

14. Report or maintain

15. Large artery

16. Eagerness

17. Rescue

18. Sound of a sheep

19. Painful

20. Paragon

22. Den

23. Concentrate

24. Detection device

26. Inform

28. Drama set to music

31. Hard-shelled seed

32. Fish-eating diving bird

35. Birdcall

37. Whiskers

41. Possess

42. Height

44. Twenty-four hours

45. Harvest

47. Ascend

48. Catch with a lasso

49. Owed

51. Pursue

53. Bushy

56. Test for acid or alkali

60. Fake

61. Artifice

64. Copy of a movie on film

65. Molten rock

66. Enthusiastic approval

68. Not in favor of

69. Kitchen appliance

70. Frighten

71. Metal money

72. Moved away

73. Fur of the marten

74. Long and difficult trip

Down1. Foundation

2. Elude

3. Square root of forty-nine

4. Subversiveness

5. Taxi

6. Be lazy or idle

7. Length by width

8. Tarnish

9. A regular customer

10. Reprieve

11. Remote in manner

12. Transport

13. Leg joint

21. Cut off

25. Remainder

27. Hollow cylindrical shape

29. Bellow

30. Caper

32. Captain's journal

33. Nocturnal bird

34. Single

36. Sudden rapid flow

38. Fuss

39. Blame

40. Used for staining

42. Cosy

43. Actual

46. Intransigent

48. Recant

50. Emerge

52. Small drink

53. Cut closely

54. Shelter

55. Evergreen plant

57. Not of legal age

58. Unfasten

59. Stench

60. Decelerate

62. Block

63. British peer ranking

below a marquess and

above a viscount

67. Golf peg

"Socialism is a philoso-phy of failure, the creed ofignorance, and the gospelof envy, its inherent virtueis the equal sharing of mis-ery.."-- Winston Churchill

These are possibly the5 best sentences you'llever read: Unfortunately,most voters don't knowthis.

1. You cannot legislatethe poor into prosperity,by legislating the wealthout of prosperity.

2. What one person re-ceives without working for,another person must workfor without receiving.

3. The governmentcannot give to anybodyanything that the govern-ment does not first takefrom somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply

wealth by dividing it.5. When half of the

people get the idea thatthey do not have to workbecause the other half isgoing to take care ofthem; and when the otherhalf gets the idea that itdoes no good to work, be-cause somebody else isgoing to get what theywork for, that is the begin-ning of the end of any na-tion.

The Dam Gossip

The Perfect Couple

Sent in by Bob Kempfer, Florida

Once upon a time, a perfect

man and a perfect woman met.

After a perfect courtship, they

had a perfect wedding. Their life

together was, of course,

perfect. One snowy, stormy

Christmas Eve, this perfect cou-

ple was driving their perfect car

along a winding road when they

noticed someone at the side of

the road in distress. Being the

perfect couple, they stopped to

help. There stood Santa Claus

with a huge bundle of toys. Not

wanting to disappoint any chil-

dren on the eve of Christmas,

the perfect couple loaded Santa

and his toys into their vehicle.

Soon they were driving along

delivering the toys. Unfortu-

nately, the driving conditions de-

teriorated and the perfect couple

and Santa Claus had an accident.

Only one of them survived the

accident.

Question: Who was the sur-

vivor?

(Read down for the answer)

Answer: The perfect woman

survived. She's the only one who

really existed in the first place.

Everyone knows there is no

Santa Claus and there is no such

thing as a

perfect man.

Women: stop reading here,

that is the end of the joke.

Men: keep reading.

So, if there is no perfect man

and no Santa Claus, the woman

must have been driving. This

explains why there was a car ac-

cident.

Men: keep reading

and...

By the way, if you're a

woman and you're still reading,

this illustrates

another point: Women never lis-

ten.

Sent in By SS, Omaha, NE

I would like to share an experience with you all,about drinking and driving.

As you well know, some of us have been known tohave had brushes with the authorities on our wayhome from the odd social session over the years.

A couple of nights ago, I was out for a few drinkswith some friends at the Marriott Hotel and had afew too many beers and some rather nice red wine.Knowing full well I may have been slightly over thelimit, I did something I've never done before .... Itook a bus home. Sure enough I passed a policeroadblock but as it was a bus they waved it past.

I arrived home safely without incident, which was areal surprise, as I have never driven a bus beforeand am not sure where I got it from!

Questions Frequently

Asked by Women

Q: Should I have a babyafter 35? A: No, 35 children areenough.

Q : I'm two months preg-nant now. When will mybaby move? A: With any luck, rightafter he finishes college.

Q : What is the most reli-able method to determinea baby's sex? A: Childbirth.

Q: My wife is five monthspregnant and so moodythat sometimes she's bor-derline irrational. A: So what's your ques-tion?

Q?: My childbirth instruc-tor says it's not pain I'llfeel during labor, butpressure. Is she right? A: Yes, in the same waythat a tornado might be

called an air current.?

Q: When is the best timeto get an epidural? A: Right after you find outyou're pregnant.

Q?: Is there any reason Ihave to be in the deliveryroom while my wife is inlabor? A: Not unless the word"alimony" means anythingto you.

Q: Is there anything Ishould avoid while recov-ering from childbirth? A: Yes, pregnancy.

Q: Do I have to have ababy shower? A: Not if you change thebaby's diaper veryquickly.

Q: Our baby was bornlast week. When will mywife begin to feel and actnormal again? A: When the kids are incollege.

A TOUCHING

CHRISTMAS

STORY

Sent in by Suzanne York

A couple was shoppingat the mall on ChristmasEve and the mall waspacked.

Walking through the mallthe surprised wife lookup and noticed her hus-band was no wherearound and she wasvery upset because theyhad a lot to do.

She used her cell phoneto call her husband be-cause she was so upset,to ask him where he

was.

The husband in a calmvoice said, honey re-member the jewelrystore we wentinto 5 years ago whereyou fell in love with thatdiamond necklace thatwe could not afford and Itold you that I would getit for you one day.

His wife said tearing up,yes I remember that jew-elry store.

He said, well I'm in thebar next to it.

SNICKER

Rumor Has It......A shop owner, who will remain nameless (Kay LynnArrendell), on the square in Coldspring, TX was seencarrying a heavy purse and an even heavier vacuumcleaner from a local resale shop...the vacuum cleanerwas broken...???? We’re just wondering...WHY???

...A War Hero was Beaten by Fans After Hockey Game...Inyet another case of sports fan violence, a decorated warhero was brutally beaten by fans of the opposing teamafter a hockey game...

...Katie Perry & Russell Brand are divorcing...Maybe hedoesn’t like her pink hair...I like it...I’m just sayin’...

...There is an amazing RV Park in Goodrich, TX...

Woodsy Hollow! www.woodsyhollow.com

...The WINOS are in full swing! That’s Women Interested

In Networking Opportunities! Call the Polk Co. Chamber

for more details! 936.327.4929

The Dam GossipThe Dam Good Times

936.653.8788

news@thedamgoodtimes.com

www.thedamgoodtimes.com

Publisher: Crystal Laramore Lutz

Editors: Robert B. Patrick, Deborah K. Martin, Cheryl Laramore

Web Editor: Robert B. Patrick

Sr. Account Executive: Paula Harper

Photography: Crystal Laramore Lutz, Paula Harper, Malcom

Harper, Melissa Johnson, Suzanne York Charles Ballard (sports &

more), Dale Lutz, The Colorado Bureau: Col. William F.

Laramore (Ret), Shawn Spencer, Mark Cravens, Jay Bowen

Contributors: Deborah Martin, Connie Strong, Robert Patrick,

Linda Lutz, Sharon Faison, Simon Cosper, Paula Garcia, Quita

Reed, Dr. Karla Bruning, Dr. DeAnna Foster, Blake Kellum, 92.3

The Eagle, Doc Fennessy, Charles Ballard, Bob Bowman, Slim

Randles, Students and Staff of COCISD, LISD and OISD and

friends of The Dam Good Times, Sydney Murphy,

©Copyrights, The Dam Good Times, Coldspring, Texas 2011

____________________________________________________

The Dam Good Times is a monthly, locally owned and oper-

ated newspaper and is published by The Dam Good Times @ 50

State Hwy 150, POB 911, Coldspring, TX 77331. Telephone

number 936.653.8788. (OLD TRUTH)

TDGT welcomes any comments or suggestions submitted in

writing to the paper. Any editorials or opinions used in this publi-

cation are those of the writers and in no way reflect the views and

opinions of The Dam Good Times.

TDGT is currently circulating 3000 copies throughout the

counties that touch Lake Livingston (San Jacinto, Polk, Trinity &

Walker), Huntsville and parts of Liberty County by retail, sub-

scriptions and occasional random distribution. Subscription rates

are $35/year in county and $40 outside San Jacinto County. The

Dam Good Times is an official publication of the County of San

Jacinto, Texas.

TDGT expects honest advertising standards from its patrons

and does not in amy way take responsibility for false or mislead-

ing advertisements.

All contents of The Dam Good Times are reserved and we pro-

hibit reproduction of the items without permission.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Dam Good

Times, POB 911, Coldspring, TX 77331

Want to subscribe or advertise?

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Just in case you’ve had your head in the sand-the time for CHANGE ishere! We own several blogs and we are almost so semi-famous that wedecided it’s high time for a new newspaper in our area. Soooo, mail us acheck for 35 bucks if you live in San Jacinto County and 40 if you’re anoutsider, aka weekender, (HEY! It takes one to know one...) and we’ll sendyou our amazingly clever newspaper. We’ll even lick the stamp. You justcan’t find deals like this anymore. Wanna advertise? Don’t be wishywashy. Our paper is a sharp contrast to those yellow-belllied newspapersyou’re used to reading & pretty soon people will be begging for ad spaceand we’ll be too busy to answer the phones! And just like that-YOU’RE outof the loop! (If UR not laughing-UR not living)

Send checks to: The Dam Good Times, POB 911, Coldspring, TX 77331www.thedamgoodtimes.com news@thedamgoodtimes.com

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The Dam Good Times

Happy Birthday! Jim Dorn, Sue Thomas, Terri

Cook, Lisa Anderson Celebrating at Crystal’s

Bistro in Coldspring, TX; Conrad Olson playing!

The Dam Gossip

Dear Crystal,Got to make this short

because of businessdeadline, but want you toknow The Dam GoodTimes looks great! We’reso proud of Uncy’s story,“Miracle at Hogue Hill,”and the rest of yourmaga-paper. Very inter-esting reading (especiallyliked your Letter from TheEditor!) and easy-to-readformat.

I’m sending a copy ofthe December issue tomy former history profes-sor at Wright State Uni-versityDr. Pat Nolan and hiswife, Bobbe Nolan, J.D.(retired Director ofNurses) for their enjoy-ment.

As you may know, Dr.Nolan is the Director ofthe Sam Houston Memo-rial Museum inHuntsville and was ex-pecting to celebrate hisretirement this month onDec. 14 with a largegathering at the museum.The engagement waspostponed because ofhim having a heart attack.I learned from Bobbe that

he is doing much betteras he’s getting grumpy!.I’ll keep you posted.

Attached is the lovelyphoto of you holding theJefferson quotation signfor a future issue. Hopeyou’re enjoying the holi-day, it’s a busy one for usand clients, but am want-ing to celebrate with myfamily at your restaurantin the next couple ofweeks and will let youknow with enough ad-vance notice when andhow many. It takes a lotof doing to get our familyall together – but Nathan,his wife Sonia, his motherJudy and I are working onit and dearly hopeChrista & Josh can joinus.

Luv ya,

Carole & Mark Price

P.S. Mark and I think hephoto above shows yourastuteness.

Editor’s Note: I was just having

a bad hair day...I was not deathly

ill...Yes, I’m a little vain which is

why I’m splaining this at all!

http://hosted.ap.org/dy-namic/stories/U/US_DRI-VERS_TEXTING?SITE=OHCIN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DE-FAULT

the following rant willmake a lot more senseAFTER you go to theabove link...I’m justsayin’...

Sent in by AC (AuntCheryl) Laramore

Because a few idiotschoose to think they areinvincible or they are juststupid, we must now goWay overboard and pun-ish everyone!??! Next itwill be illegal to have aconversation in your carwith another person,change a CD or radiostation, drink a cup ofcoffee, put on your sun-glasses.....scratch an

itch, sneeze, blow yournose?? Drive thrus willbe illegal because surelywe can't eat and drive.Or maybe we shouldn'tlook in our rear view mir-ror so often, or lookdown to check speed,turn on lights.......Surewouldn't want to lookaway to turn up the heator turn on the windshieldwipers. It will have to allbe voice control - ohwait!!! They want to baneven hands-free, voicecontrolled devices be-cause apparently wecan't be trusted to talkand drive. If we can't talkand drive, surely wecan't chew gum anddrive. And oh no------NEVER, EVER sing anddrive!!

UGH!!! BIG BROTHERGO AWAY! Limit yourrestrictions to stupidity -

yes texting (reading andtyping), emailing (read-ing and typing), readinga book, magazine, ipad,or kindle, working onyour laptop, putting onmakeup while driving,etc. - IS STUPID!! I'lleven agree that manu-ally dialing a number orchoosing one from acontact list could also bedangerous in many con-ditions and should be re-considered.

HOWEVER, talking tosomeone using a hands-free device is NOT!!Pass the restrictions thatmake sense and enforcethem. Leave the rest ofus alone!!!

The Dam Gossip

Friends, Neighbors,and Voters of San Jac-into County:

My Name is Emmett“Ray” McCoppin, I amrunning for County TaxAssessor-Collector, I ama lifelong resident ofTexas, and have been aresident of San JacintoCounty for almost 3years. I have been mar-ried for 34 years andhave 3 children; the old-est one is currently serv-ing in the US Navy.

I worked for 23 years

at Du Pont Sabine RiverWorks mainly in the elec-tronic controls and the ITdepartments. In 1997 Istarted doing consultingwork for IT companiesand large businesses. Icurrently am the generalmanager/partner of Rand S Portfolio LLC, thisis a small consultingcompany that specializesin helping businessesuse Microsoft businesssoftware and a boardmember of the Cold-spring Chamber of Com-merce. I have performedconsulting work for alarge number of the for-tune 500 companies andthe U.S. government.

As your Tax Asses-sor-Collector, I plan tohandle matters in athoughtful way and beconsiderate of all mat-ters. Like in other coun-

ties in Texas I will try mybest to allow installmentcontracts up to threeyears for temporaryhardships, like health,unexpected loss of a job,or natural disaster. AlsoTaxpayers 65 and olderand disabled propertyowners may qualify tomake installment pay-ments, with no penaltyand interest. I will bringmy experience with themajor IT companies toimprove all areas of in-frastructure in the TaxAssessor-Collector’s of-fice.

My office will be openand available to help youfind the right way to workout your property taxmatters.

First and foremost Iwill represent and servethe people, not governthem.

Ray McCoppin

Ray McCoppin for San Jacinto County Tax Assessor-Collector

Hello Neighbors,

My name is Wade

Runnels and I am a can-

didate running for

your Constable in

Precinct 4. I am a

seven year resident of thecommunity, currently re-siding on FM 224. I am 55years old, married withone grown child and re-side with my wife, mother-in-law, and my beautifuleighteen month old niecewho I claim as my own!

My entire career hasbeen in law enforcementwhere I served the citi-zens of Houston for overtwenty-eight years beforeretiring to San JacintoCounty in January 2005.I spent twenty-three ofthose years as a leader inthe Houston Police De-partment holding the posi-tion of Administrator ofthe Identification Divisionuntil my retirement. In No-vember of 1998 I earnedmy Master Peace OfficersCertificate and currentlyhold an active licensefrom the Texas Commis-sion On Law Enforcement

Officers Standards andEducation.

When elected to serveour community I will firstand foremost bring hon-esty, integrity, and open-ness to the Constablesoffice. I am a firm believerin neighborhood orientedpolicing and that’s whereyou will find me after myduties for the Justice ofthe Peace Court are com-pleted. My commitmentwill be to working fulltimewith all law enforcementpersonnel in the pursuit ofprotecting the citizensand property of ourCounty. I will pursue citi-zen involvement and at-tend community basedmeeting’s to be able to re-spond to concerns andinput on current events. Iwill take advantage ofgovernment sponsoredtraining for disasterevents so that I can betterparticipate with otheragencies in the recoveryof our community.

I am enthusiasticallycommitted and will bringsenior command level ex-perience from a major po-lice department to ourcommunity if you will giveme the honor of beingyour next Constable ofPrecinct 4.

Wade Runnels

In 1802, Thomas Jefferson said, "Ibelieve that banking institutionsare more dangerous to our liber-ties than standing armies. If theAmerican people ever allow pri-vate banks to control the issue oftheir currency, first by inflation,then by deflation, the banks andcorporations that will grow uparound the banks will deprive the

people of all property - until their children wake-up homeless on the con-tinent their fathers conquered."

Burn Ban Lifted!

http://www.indiancreekfarm.co

The Dam GossipRepublican can-didates &changes to thefiling and pri-mary process

Sheriff – Sheriff James Lewis

Walters (Incumbent)

Tax Assessor/Collector – Em-

mett “Ray” McCoppin

Commissioner Pct 1 – OPEN

Commissioner Pct 3 – Thomas

Bonds

Constable Pct 1 – OPEN

Constable Pct 2 – OPEN

Constable Pct 3 – William “Bill”

Marks; Sam Houston

Constable Pct 4 – Wade Run-

nels

Chairman – Sean Hanson (In-

cumbent)

This is the largest number of

candidates on a ticket for the

Republican Party in San Jac-

into County but we have room

for a few more!

We will likely have two more

since there will be one more

filing opportunity at the end of

January after the Supreme

Court rules on the redistricting

maps for Texas. The hearing

for this is January 9th. The

opening of this filing is yet to

be determined.

Per the signed order - the new

date of the 2012 General Pri-

mary Election is set as Tues-

day, April 3, 2012. The court

order provides for a reopened

filing period which will begin

at a date to be determined and

have a closing deadline of

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

at 6 PM.

Sean Hanson

SJC Republican Party Chair-

man

Dear Editor,

As a resident of Cold-spring Texas since 1999, Iwas surprised to seesuch a great local paper,with us being a smallcommunity and all. Buteven more surprised tosee that we're not thatsmall! I saw all the busi-nesses in Coldspring inThe Dam Good Timesand I was floored! I hadno idea there were somany businesses in thearea.

I have also watchedas your 10 to 12 pagenewspaper grew to over40 pages! Competingwith the Chronicle, (sincethe Post closed, they re-ally haven't had muchcompetition). As an old

business who wants to golocal, so a "new" businessin the community, Ithought I had better geton board the fast growingtrain of The Dam GoodTimes.

I am excited to be apart of this growing com-munity, as a masterplumber with the state ofTexas, I hope to grow mybusiness with The DamGood Times!

Thank You, Millie EvansDBA Millies Plumbing Co.MPL #36070

IMPORTANTFAMILY NEWSfrom the familyof Louie Rogers Jr.

On New Year's Eve, atthe stroke of midnight,our family was blessed towitness Mr. D.J. Neelleypropose to our oldestdaughter, Chrystal. They

are now engaged and willannounce a weddingdate soon.

Chrystal and DJ areboth juniors at Baylor andplan to graduate in Mayof 2013. DJ is in the AirForce ROTC and will becommissioned as an offi-cer upon graduation.Chrystal will have her de-gree in Middle SchoolMath and be prepared toteach wherever the Air

Force sends them.We are very happy for

the two of them!

Sofie, Third on right, cele-brates her birthday withfriends and Rotarians.Sofie is living with localfamilies and attendinghigh school here for the2011 – 2012 school year.She is visiting from Spainfor a school year on a Ro-tary Youth Exchange.

Exchange studentsmust be between 15 and18 ½ years old, be goodstudents and have lead-ership skills. The stu-dents may spend up to ayear living with host fami-lies or they can go for justa few weeks during theSummer. The Summerprogram costs about

$2,000. and the full yearprogram is about $4,300.

The fee for the fullyear program includeseverything (air fair, med-ical insurance , etc) Stu-dents provide their ownluggage and passport.Host clubs in the countrya student visits givesthem a $75 - $100monthly allowance.

Exchange studentslive with “host” families,just like Sofie does here.The students becomemembers of the familyand participate in familyactivities as a “son” or“daughter.” The experi-ences and memories the

students have last a life-time.

In the past few yearsstudents from our areahave gone to school inArgentina, Belgium,Brazil, Ecuador, Finland,France, Germany, Hun-gary, Italy, Japan, Mexico,Slovakia, and Sweden. Itis also possible to attendschool in other countries.Over 8,000 students peryear go on an exchangebetween more than 80countries.

Most exchange stu-dents go in their jr. year.Any student in the PolkCounty area is eligible togo on a Rotary Youth Ex-change. But time is run-ning short to apply for the2012 - 2013 school year.

Local students whoare interested in attend-ing school in anothercountry can apply to theLivingston Rotary Club bycalling Blair McDonald at936-327-1222.

Spanish student Celebrates 16th Birthday at Crystal’s Bistro

The Dam Gossip

Many Thanks to those indi-

viduals who were able to at-

tend the first meeting for

Come Clean 2012. We re-

viewed the information from

2011 and recommendations

that were made following the

2011 event. The group de-

cided to continue with the

basic format of the event, in-

cluding the following:

1. Event time and date ---

Saturday, March 31st, 9:00-

1:00 pm. Food service and the

final dumping will occur at

1:00 pm (location to be deter-

mined later – somewhere in

the Onalaska area). If the On-

alaska Methodist men are will-

ing, we would like for them to

continue to cook for the event.

We need for drinks and food to

be available when the partici-

pants arrive at the location.

They can start eating while the

“trash judging” is going on.

2. The Chamber, TRA,

ELL and The Eagle are the

sponsoring Organizations for

the Come Clean event. Pro-

Star Waste has agreed to be the

Title Sponsor/Business for the

2012 event. Kudo’s to Pro-

Star Waste and many Thanks.

3. Pre-registration --- We

need to make sure participants

can pre-register online or at

designated offices. The regis-

tration form needs to include t-

shirt sizes, team leader

information, and a release of

liability form. The registration

deadline for participants that

want an event t-shirt is Friday,

March 1st, 2012. That will

give us adequate time to order

the t-shirts and get them deliv-

ered to the team leaders.

Teams that include school-

age students must have one

adult per 15 kids. All teams

must have a designated team

leader. We need contact infor-

mation (cell phone #’s) for that

individual.

Team leaders are asked to

make sure they have a first aid

kit available for that day. Also,

make sure the team has plenty

of water, sunscreen, gloves,

etc. We are asking that partici-

pants bring gardening gloves.

We will have plastic gloves

available, but they are pretty

thin.

Team leaders will deter-

mine their designated shoreline

or area prior to the event.

4. Game Warden partici-

pation and “Unusual Trash

Awards” --- everyone agreed

both of those aspects needed to

be kept. It was suggested that

the Game Wardens bring their

demo trailer as well as the boat

to provide more educational

activities and information for

the closing activity of 2012.

5. Keep Texas Master

Naturalist involvement. In-

crease available information or

activities if possible.

Things that need improve-

ment or modification for 2012

(and assignments for January

12th).

Pro-Star Waste: No Change

from last year --- designate

dumping sites and coordinate

with the businesses/organiza-

tions that are participating.

One suggestion for the TRA

area was to take the dumpster

out from behind the fence dur-

ing the activity. Also, we need

a large dumpster at the final lo-

cation (end of the day).

TRA Staff: No change

from last year --- assist in co-

ordinating efforts with TCEQ

and make arrangements for ac-

cessibility to dumpsters in

their office area.

ELL: No change from last

year --- assist in selling spon-

sorships and promoting the

event.

Lew Vail: No change from

last year --- speak to Onalaska

Methodist Men and to On-

alaska Brookshire Bros. about

cooking and donating food.

The Chamber will pay for

condiments (and chili!!)

Education Committee: No

change from last year --- or-

ganize activities for school age

children and providers. The

Master Naturalist Chapter is

also willing to assist in any

way possible.

We need to make sure the

Release is also included on the

registration page. I have extra

Xerox copies that we can use

on the day of the event for

people who do not have one.

Amy Jackson (Continuum)

--- could your kids start work-

ing on the Facebook page to

get the registration form and

information for 2012 updated?

Remember the registration

form needs to have t-shirt

sizes, team leader name, re-

lease, etc. on it.

Livingston ISD --- agreed

to link the 2012 Come Clean

event Facebook page to their

site. Coordinate with Amy to

see what everyone needs to do

for the registration information

to be easy and accessible.

Lori Townsend (Cold-

spring): Contact Coldspring

ISD and promote more partici-

pation from the San Jacinto

side for students and adults.

Lori has also agreed to check

with Wolf Creek AC to see if

they would like to participate

as a collection point (due to

confusion last year).

Chris Gregory: Would you

be willing to come to the final

activity on that day and bring

some of your “critters” with

you? That was one of the sug-

gestions from the group last

year. The group would also

like to see the Game Wardens

bring their large trailer.

Other Youth Organizations

(boy scouts, girls scouts, 4H,

etc.): It was suggested that

youth organizations have infor-

mation booths available at the

event for recruitment and in-

formation items. This is cer-

tainly an option if those

organizations are interested.

Let us know.

Promotional/Advertising

Opportunities: last year there

was some confusion with re-

gards to different sponsors re-

cruited by ELL, the Chamber

and the radio station. All

sponsorships for this event will

be $199.00 and will provide

both written and radio adver-

tising. This will include place-

ment on the t-shirts, newspaper

ads, all Chamber ads, and

radio time. The Eagle staff

will be contacting local busi-

nesses and coordinating the

advertising efforts. Please

note: the deadline for being in-

cluded on the t-shirts is Friday,

March 2nd. Other advertising

opportunities will still be

available after that date, but

the majority of written ads will

occur prior to March 2nd.

Sponsorship sales will begin in

late January and early Febru-

ary.

We are hoping to have

some participation from the

Houston media. They have

been contacted. However, if

you know anyone in the Hous-

ton media please contact them

and invite them to attend.

EVERYONE: Please make

sure you let the Chamber know

if you have someone that has

agreed to a sponsorship or has

made an equivalent donation.

We need to make sure every-

one is included and receives

credit in the advertising and on

the t-shirts.

The Eagle Staff “Luck

Brothers”: Start contacting

area businesses about advertis-

ing opportunities for this

event. Coordinate all sponsor-

ships with Chamber Staff.

The next Come Clean meet-

ing is scheduled for Thursday,

January 12th, 2:00 pm at the

Chamber Office. Please mark

your calendars and make every

effort to attend.

Hope everyone has a very

Merry Christmas and wonder-

ful Holiday Season --- S

Sydney Murphy

Executive Director

Chamber of Commerce

PO Box 600

Livingston, TX 77351

(936) 327-4929

sydneymurphy@livingston.net

Come Clean Lake Livingston Update

World & LocalPrinted with express

permission from:

Deroy Murdock

Nationally syndicated

columnist,

Scripps Howard

News Service

New York City

These four maps dismantlePresident Obama's argu-ments against Keystonewith two simple rebuttals:

a) Many pipelines alreadycriss-cross the US-Cana-dian border. So, whyshouldn't Keystone?

Details above.

b) Many pipelines alreadycriss-cross the OgallalaAquifer in Nebraska. So,why shouldn't Keystone?

One illustration (at-tached) shows theKeystone XLPipeline crossingthe aquifer as if itwere the first to doso. The other mapshows Keystone asit would appear,among hundreds ofother pipelines al-ready in action. So,what's the big deal?

Please feel free toshare this informa-tion as widely asyou like. The Houseand Senate likelywill vote on all ofthis during the week, perhaps as soon astoday.

Meanwhile, I wrote last week about Presi-dent Obama's fundraising among the sameWall Street "fat cats" he so often criticizes:

http://www.nationalreview.com/arti-cles/285499/obama-keystone-kop-deroy-murdock

And before that, a profile of Governor LuisG. Fortuno (R -Puerto Rico). He is managingthat island's public affairs along Reaganiteand Thatcheresque lines.

http://www.nationalreview.com/arti-cles/283483/fortu-o-shows-us-way-deroy-murdock

I hope you enjoy these pieces.

Best wishes,

World & Local

(Washington, D.C.)---

The Speaker of the

House John Boehner

today named U.S. Con-

gressman Kevin Brady

of Texas to the confer-

ence committee de-

signed to resolve the

differences between the

House and Senate over

the extension of a pay-

roll tax and other provi-

sions. The

Democratic-led Senate

abruptly left town last

weekend after passing

just a two-month exten-

sion of the measure

while House Republi-

cans are continuing to

fight for a full

year extension

through all of

2012. Brady is-

sued the following

statement after

completing the

first committee

meeting this after-

noon:

“Republicans are

willing to work through

the holidays to make

sure families and small

businesses can count on

this tax cut for a full

year and local doctors

can be fairly paid for

treating Medicare pa-

tients. The House has

voted to advance the bill

to a conference commit-

tee and now the bill lies

in the Senate.

“Senate Democrats

short-changed the Amer-

ican people by rushing

through a mere two-

month extension and

then racing from the

Capitol to their holiday

vacations. President

Obama needs to direct

Senate Democrats to do

their jobs first, and vaca-

tion later. Democratic

Leader Harry Reid

needs to take action to

appoint the Senators

who can sit down across

the table from Republi-

cans to finish this job

now – not next year, not

when they get around to

it, but now.

“Hard-working tax-

payers don’t get to start

their vacations until

their work is done. Why

are President Obama

and Senate Democrats

any different? House

Republicans are com-

mitted to making sure

that millions of Ameri-

cans avoid a needless

tax hike.”

I just wanted to share with you all a letter many members of Con-

gress, including Congressman Brady, signed and sent to the White

House today expressing their disappointment with the decision to fur-

ther delay the Keystone Pipeline. --Tracee Evans

Texan Named to House Negotiating Team forPayroll Tax CutSpeaker John Boehner names Congressman Kevin Brady to

House Conference Committee

Rep. Kevin Brady, Vice Chair-

man of the Joint Economic

Committee, citing the Bureau

of Economic Analysis release

of current GDP figures today,

attributed its weak growth to

sluggish private investment.

Economic growth in the third

quarter of 2011, according to

the data released today, was

downgraded by .2 percentage

point.

“Our economy is not suffering

because the federal govern-

ment isn’t spending enough, or

consumers aren’t spending as

much as before, or even that

our sales abroad are lower. All

those indicators are now

higher than when the recession

began,” Brady said. “What our

economy is sorely missing is

real business investment in

buildings, equipment and soft-

ware. This is what drives job

generation. Today, more than

two

years

after

the re-

cession

officially ended, business in-

vestment still remains 8%

below its pre-recession level.”

“What our economy most

needs is more real business in-

vestment, not more govern-

ment “stimulus,” not

temporary monetary gimmicks

or short-term Hail Mary’s

from a befuddled White

House,” Brady continued.

“Congress and the President

need to recognize that, without

strong investment growth, we

cannot have strong job growth.

Continued uncertainty over

taxes, regulation and health

care reform remains a major

impediment to business invest-

ment along Main Street.”

Today’s economic report re-

veals:

• Real personal con-

sumption expenditures are at

an all-time high – 5% higher

than their 2009 low.

• Real federal govern-

ment consumption and invest-

ment is 15% higher than the

4th-quarter 2007 when the re-

cession began.

• Sales of American

goods and services abroad are

up 10% in real terms.

J.E.C. Vice Chairman Brady

believes that Washington can

get out of the way of entrepre-

neurs and job creators by es-

tablishing a consistent and fair

set of rules for businesses, tax

policies that encourage long-

term investment, and regula-

tions that protect the public,

rather than punish those in

business for succeeding at

what they know how to do.

Brady Says Weak Private Sector In-vestment Hampers Economic Growth

World & LocalBy Rep. Kevin Brady (R-

Texas)

“This Congress cannotand should not leave forvacation until they havemade sure that tax in-crease doesn’t happen.Let me repeat that: Con-gress should not andcannot go on vacationbefore they have madesure that working familiesaren’t seeing their taxesgo up by $1,000 … I ex-pect all of us to do what’snecessary to do the peo-ple’s business, and makesure it’s done before theend of the year.”

These aren’t mywords. They were spokenurgently by PresidentObama little more than aweek ago.

He’s not alone. BothSenate Majority LeaderHarry Reid and HouseMinority Leader NancyPelosi have recently in-sisted on a one-year ex-tension of the federalpayroll tax holiday. On theSenate floor November28th, Reid called for pas-sage of a one year exten-sion saying, “We need toassure those families thatthey can rely on that[payroll] tax cut next yearas well.” On the Housefloor December 7th,Pelosi supported thePresident’s one-year ex-tension declaring, “Wecan’t go home without thepayroll tax cut …”House Republicansagree.

That’s why we passeda bi-partisan bill Decem-ber 13th that includes thefull year tax holiday forfamilies and small busi-nesses – just as thePresident asked. Sincethe clock is ticking it alsoincludes reforms to con-tinue unemployment ben-efits for a full year, paylocal doctors fairly to treatMedicare patients for thenext two years, job creat-ing provisions and cuts towasteful spending to payfor it all.

Yet President Obamaand Congressional De-mocrats who just lastweek insisted on a fullyear extension have sud-denly changed courseand are now fiercely op-posed to the House’sgoal to do the same.

What changed? Whythe reversal in principles?In a struggling economywhere Main Street facesa litany of uncertainty it’spuzzling that the Presi-dent and CongressionalDemocrats are suddenlyembracing a more short-term stop-gap policy. Set-tling for a meager twomonth extension guaran-tees this fight occursagain in February – andpossibly every fewmonths thereafter. Howdoes that help boostPresident Obama’s strug-gling economy or restoreconsumer confidence?

A review of recent his-tory reveals that SenatorReid wasn’t always so

opposed to bringing De-mocrats back from theirholiday vacations to finishtheir work. In Septemberof 2008 he proposedbringing the Senate backto work to pass thelargest bank bailout inAmerican history, pro-claiming “We're going toget this done and stay insession as long as ittakes to get it done.” Thispast summer he abruptlycanceled the traditionalJuly 4th recess to try tomuscle through an in-crease in America’s stag-gering debt limit.President Obama joinedhim, declaring that mem-bers of Congress should“cancel things and stayhere.”

Let’s get this straight:Senate Democrats willwillingly cancel their va-cations to bail out WallStreet Banks and drivethe United States deeperinto debt, but now won’tinterrupt theirlong Christ-mas vacationto ensure afull year taxholiday forAmericanworkers?

FormerSpeakerNancy Pelosiis similarlyhypocritical.Holding theHouse gavelin the summerof 2010 shehad no prob-

lem recalling Housemembers from their Au-gust recess to ramthrough a debt-cringingtaxpayer funded bailoutto labor unions and gov-ernment workers justahead of the mid-termelections.

But now she refusesto appoint Democrat ne-gotiators to sit down withRepublicans to makesure hard-working Ameri-cans won’t wake up NewYears Day with smallerpaychecks. Why arehandouts to governmentworkers a higher prioritythan helping all Americanfamilies who work?

As the White Houseand Congressional De-mocrats careen wildlyfrom position to positiondepending upon the polit-ical winds, it’s no surpriseAmericans continue tolose confidence in Wash-ington to act responsiblyand in the best interest ofthe nation.

Given the inconsis-tency between the words

and deeds of PresidentObama and Democraticleaders in Congress,hardworking taxpayersdeserve to know “why thechange”?

They don’t care aboutthe messaging war orwhose political fortunesare prevailing this week.Main Street small busi-nesses face confusingpayroll changes, doctors’offices face another fund-ing cliff in two shortmonths, and workersdon’t get to vacation untiltheir jobs are done, alldeserve a straightforwardanswer from PresidentObama and Democrats inCongress.

Why the change? Andwhat are you doing thesedays that’s more impor-tant than sitting downwith House Republicansto solve this problemnow?

Rep. Kevin Brady rep-resents the 8th District ofTexas and is vice chair-man of the Joint Eco-nomic Committee.

Mr. President: Why the Change?

U.S. FOREST SERVICE AWARDS HIGH-EST HONOR TO CONSERVATION

EDUCATION COORDINATOR

ATLANTA, Dec. 21, 2011– The U.S. Forest Serv-ice recently announcedrecipients of the Chief’sAwards, the highesthonor in the agency.

The awards are pre-sented on a yearly basisfor individuals andgroups who find innova-tive ways to achievestrategic goals initiatedby the mission of theagency.

Tamberly Conway,

Urban Connections –

Latino Legacy Program

Conservation Education

Coordinator with the Na-

tional Forests and Grass-

lands in Texas, received

the “Engaging Urban

America Award,” which

recognizes outstanding

successes in promoting

conservation education.

Her projects include com-

munity “greening” efforts,

manage-

ment of

urban

forests,

and youth

volunteer-

ing oppor-

tunities in

local

urban

forestry

activities.

“The

men and

women of

the U.S.

Forest

Service

are taking

on

tremen-

dous chal-

lenges every day for our

environment and our

country,” said Forest

Service Chief Tom Tid-

well. “These awardees

have gone the extra mile

to make a difference, and

we can all be proud of

them.”

Conway was recog-

nized for her program

that aimed to enrich the

health and lifestyles of

over 1 million children

and families by providing

resources on the benefits

of forests and grass-

lands. As a result, her ef-

forts, which included

promoting stewardship

activities and encourag-

ing youth to engage in

natural resource conser-

vation and management,

increased awareness of

the Forest Service, and

she also helped develop

and nurture community

relations.

“Tamberly’s enthusi-

astic work on this project

over the past three years

has enabled a new gen-

eration of youth to enjoy

the great outdoors,”

stated Southern Regional

Forester Liz Agpaoa.

“Giving youth, especially

those in urban areas, an

opportunity to experience

nature up close has al-

lowed them to discover a

new and exciting outdoor

world.”

JaSal Morris, Acting

Forest Supervisor for the

National Forests and

Grasslands in Texas,

praised Conway for her

dedication and enthusi-

asm. “No one is more

committed to the success

of connecting kids with

nature than Tamberly,” he

said. “She has exceeded

all expectations for this

project and has brought

national recognition to

Texas for her efforts.”The Southern Region (Re-

gion 8) oversees 14 national

forests and two special units in

13 states and Puerto Rico,

working with states and private

landowners to sustain the

health, diversity, and productiv-

ity of forests and grasslands to

meet the needs of present and

future generations. This year is

the centennial of the Week’s

Act, which led to the creation

and restoration of many beauti-

ful forests we enjoy today. Na-

tional Forests continue to be

an integral part of America’s

environmental and economic

well-being.

U.S. Forest Service working withTexas Forest Service, Huntsville tocreate fire breaks around neighborhoods

The Sam Houston Na-tional Forest in partner-ship with the Texas ForestService and the City ofHuntsville is working toprevent the devastatingwildfires that destroyedthousands of homes inCentral Texas and costmillions of dollars.

Unmanaged forestsbuild up a dangerouslevel of underbrush thatcan quickly become rag-ing wildfires with a singlespark or dropped match,according to JordanBeakley, Prevention/FuelsTechnician for the SamHouston National Forest.

The use of controlledfire is the fastest andmost cost effective way ofdealing with thick under-brush, but the resultingsmoke is a constantcause of concern for resi-dents whose homes areclose to the national for-est.

The Forest Service is

working with Texas Forest

Service and the City of

Huntsville on a way to

protect neighborhoods by

mulching a 200-foot wide

break along National For-

est lands. This will reduce

the intensity of potential

wildfires to a manageable

level so that firefighters

will be able to extinguish

the fire much easier.

The mulching will in-

clude 224 acres around

seven neighborhoods in

Montgomery and Walker

counties and take around

two months to complete.

The Walker County

neighborhoods are Lost

Meadows, Elkins Lake

and Watson Lake, and

the neighborhoods in

Montgomery County are

Lake Mount Pleasant,

Hidden Forest, Bear

Canyon and Pinebush

Trails.Beakley said the lack

of natural fire regime hasallowed fuels to build up,creating a potentially dan-gerous situation for resi-dents. This was madeworse due to the extremedrought in East Texas.

The Forest Serviceand TFS have been work-ing with the City ofHuntsville in Elkins Laketo help educate home-owners about being Fire-wise and implementingthe program Ready-Set-Go.

The Texas Forest

Service has approached

some of these neighbor-

hoods to make them Fire-

wise communities.TFS

gave the city of Huntsville

a grant to fund the

mulching on private prop-

erty adjacent to the Elkins

Lake subdivision, which

will connect to the U.S.

Forest Service shaded

fuel break.

Homeowners can visit

www.firewise.org for help-

ful tips to reduce the

threat of a wildfire con-

suming their home.

By Arnold Cusmariu

Gingrich's alleged "baggage"

and doubts about his electability

don't fully explain why, despite

his high standing in the polls,

the GOP establishment has been

shunning the former Speaker of

the House, when not showing

outright hostility toward him.

The current Speaker of the

House, John Boehner, must be

considered a prominent oppo-

nent, behind the scenes so far.

Boehner, it will be recalled, led

the rebellion to remove Gingrich

from his post as Speaker back in

1998, joined in this eventually

successful effort by Bill Paxon,

Dick Armey, and Tom DeLay

(all now out of office). The day

after being re-elected to an 11th

term by his Georgia con-

stituents, Gingrich announced

that he would stand down as

Speaker and resign his seat. As

reported in the November 8,

1998 New York Times, he

minced no words during a phone

conference with colleagues Joe

Barton of Texas, Rob Portman

of Ohio, Fred Upton of Michi-

gan and RNC Chairman Jim

Nicholson, stating "I'm willing

to lead but I'm not willing to

preside over people who are

cannibals." Ouch!

As a historian capable of tak-

ing the long view in politics and

elsewhere, Gingrich knows full

well what it means to be de-

posed. Luckily, in a democracy

such things result only in loss of

power. Charles I, Louis XVI,

and Tsar Nicholas II, to cite

some famous historical exam-

ples, lost a lot more than that. A

deposed leader left alive can still

be targeted if seen as a threat, as

Trotsky found out. Napoleon

was luckier; after Waterloo he

only got relocated to St. Helena.

An ousted leader who returns to

power is likely to be unkind to

those who kicked him out, pos-

sibly looking to return the favor,

even in a democracy.

Boehner is hardly alone in

fearing a Gingrich presidency.

A true insider, Gingrich knows

who among his fellow politi-

cians (from his day and since)

stands for what -- the real deal

not the sort of palaver politi-

cians offer up when they are on

their best behavior on TV for the

sake of keeping up appearances

knowing that it's on the record

and that constituents are watch-

ing. I mean argument (often

heated) and behavior (not al-

ways polite) behind closed

doors where no one can see or

hear what transpired except

those in the room. In short, Gin-

grich knows who the jerks are.

And they know that he knows.

This makes him dangerous.

Anybody who knows where the

bodies are buried is a threat to

whoever was involved in the

burials, no matter how long ago

or by whose fault.

If Gingrich gets the nod at

the GOP convention next sum-

mer, it's a good question how

hard he will work to get Repub-

licans elected in the fall. His

former nemesis John Boehner

certainly wants to come back as

Speaker and preside over an

even larger majority in the

House. Will Gingrich want

Boehner to stay on as Speaker?

It will depend on how loyal to

him as President Gingrich be-

lieves Boehner and the GOP

House contingent will be. So,

the lot of them will have to

come over and convince him

that they deserve support. Gin-

grich and Boehner will have to

mend fences somehow, not a

simple thing in light of past bad

blood. Otherwise, Gingrich will

do the numbers, figure out how

many seats he needs to keep the

House and win the Senate, and

the rest ... good luck. The "can-

nibals," if any, will certainly be

on the endangered list. It is not

a comfortable position to be in if

you're a Republican running for

office next year with Gingrich

as GOP standard bearer, know-

ing you will have to deal with

somebody who is nobody's fool,

is not just another party hack,

goes for the jugular, and can

make deals with the opposition

if necessary to get the job done.

There's also the fact that Gin-

grich is smarter and better edu-

cated than just about everyone

in Congress, now or for a long

time. Gingrich knows it and has

been known to rub it in. Paul

Ryan right now is the only

member of Congress who can

come close to him in IQ, but not

in level of education or respon-

sibility. I've seen Newt speak on

several occasions, including tel-

evised debates, and he gets to

the point and sees the heart of

the matter more quickly than

any politician I know. He de-

fends his views with cogent ar-

guments like a logic professor --

I ought to know having been

one myself. It can be intimidat-

ing to get into a debate with

someone that smart who is quick

on his feet and pulls no punches.

Gingrich won't "need no stink-

ing teleprompter" in future

speeches as president. He also

has a wicked sense of humor,

knows how to use it effectively

and isn't reluctant in the least to

cut someone to pieces with a

joke or sarcastic remark. He's

done it many times and no doubt

will continue to do it. Who

wants to look silly on national

television?

Gingrich ran the House as

Speaker from 1995 to 1999 and

was Minority Whip from 1989

to 1995. These are credentials

that his competitors do not come

even close to matching. The

only GOP seniors who outrank

him right now are President

Bush and Vice-President Ch-

eney. Neither has made a for-

mal endorsement, probably

waiting until the primaries

are over. Bill Clinton said good

things about Gingrich as a "kiss

of death" bit of reverse psychol-

ogy, designed to give an already

scared GOP establishment one

more reason to look elsewhere.

Has the former president forgot-

ten who led impeachment pro-

ceedings against him in the

House? I doubt it. Clinton "en-

dorsed" Gingrich knowing what

a formidable opponent he would

be against Obama.

Bottom line: The GOP estab-

lishment is scared of Gingrich

because there's significant doubt

he can be relied upon to toe the

party line. Yes, he's unpre-

dictable, which the press has

portrayed negatively in an effort

to discredit him, even the con-

servative press - "loose cannon,"

"own worst enemy," and all that.

The truth is that he's shown time

and again that he is a man of

principle and puts national inter-

est above partisan politics.

That's what this country needs

right now, and badly too.

How well Gingrich handles

the "fear factor" problems I've

described will determine

whether he gets the nod next

summer, assuming he makes it

through the primaries with

enough delegates. Showing gra-

ciousness toward fellow de-

baters was a good start.

Arnold Cusmariu is a sculptor

and former philosophy profes-

sor.

Gingrich and theFear Factor

Good News Gazette Contin-

ued from page 14

know how it’s all going to

turn out in 2012. Are we

going to have Mr. Obama for

another four years or get

someone new? I don’t see

anyone very promising out

there but it’s almost time to

get myself more informed so I

can be accurate when I argue

a point. In any case I will

continue to pray for my coun-

try and its leaders. Lord

knows they need it!Beautiful Hershey Park

has been a fixture in my lifethis year. I went walkingthere the other day as is myhabit. I walk by and over twobayous which have been piti-fully low all year because ofthe lack of rain. For most ofthe year I could easily walkacross in many places whichis just crazy. Well, imaginemy shock as I crossed my firstbridge into the park – OMG –there’s actually water in thebayou!! It was up WAY pastthe first little ledge. What hadbeen about 10 feet across lastweek was now 50 feet, easily.It was a beautiful thing to see.

I’ll be moving soon to an-other city so I won’t see thispark unless I make a specialtrip to walk there. I will missall the activity. Many familieswalking, die-hard runnerswith all their paraphernalia,bikers with and without hel-mets, trees in bloom, waterrushing, sun shining and littlecritters popping out of thebushes when you least expectit. The sights and sounds areheavenly. It’s good juju.

I read something last week

which really fits here. “The

good you do for your fellow

man is the rent you pay for

the time on Earth you had.”

The woman who said this was

a rancher who worked the

land her husband had worked

and a couple of generations

before him, too. Seems she

was very solidly connected to

our good Mother Earth and

her fellow man as well.Bill Gates gives billions

each year through his charita-ble foundation and good forhim. Most of us can’t give

billions, millions or eventhousands but we can do thelittle things like wrappinggifts, opening doors, smilingat someone who’s clearly hav-ing a hard day. We can allgive a buck to The SalvationArmy.

It doesn’t matter whetherwhat you do is worth onedime or a million dimes.Sometimes the best thing issaying please or thank you. Itmight be the exact thingsomeone needs to hear at thatmoment. I had the opportu-nity to volunteer one Saturdaymorning wrapping Christmasgifts for needy kids. It didn’ttake much time or effort. Ahalf day out of my week. Butit felt good because as Iwrapped each gift I was ableto send up the child’s name ina small prayer of blessing andhope.

I don’t know about you,

but I’ve had a great year in

spite of obvious challenges.

I’ve surrounded myself with

those who love me and lift me

up. I’ve been able to give

back a little throughout the

year. I’ve given gratitude and

gotten peace. I’ve given

friendship and gotten joy.

You know, I believe in the

law of the harvest. Some call

it karma. Doesn’t matter what

you call it. You get what you

give. If you want love, give it

away. If you want peace,

practice it in your relation-

ships. If you want joy, laugh

with someone. It may sound

crazy but the more you give,

the more you get. I’m not

sure it all adds up because I

got an awful lot this year and

I don’t remember giving all

that much.

Maybe that’s the magic

and the blessing. Yeah, it says

that somewhere in the New

Testament. When you give it

will come back to you pressed

down, shaken together and

running over, poured in your

lap. You couldn’t catch it all

if you tried. What a wonder-

ful thing! Here’s to more of

the same in 2012! Happy

New Year everybody!

A little girlwalked to andfrom schooldaily...

Though the weatherthat morning was ques-tionable and clouds wereforming, she made her dailytrek to the elementaryschool. As the afternoon pro-gressed, the winds whippedup, along with lightning.

The mother of the littlegirl felt concerned that herdaughter would be fright-ened as she walked homefrom school and she fearedthe electrical storm mightharm her child.. Full ofconcern, the motherquickly got into her car anddrove along the route toher child's school. As shedid, she saw her little girlwalking along..

At each flash of light-ning, the child would stop,look up, and smile. An-other and another flash oflighting followed quicklyand with each, the little girlwould look at the streak oflight and smile.

When the mother's cardrew up beside the child,she lowered the windowand called to her 'What areyou doing?' The child an-swered, 'I am trying tolook pretty because Godkeeps taking my picture.'

About Town

Kevin Black and hisson Coleton played atCrystal's Bistro on Fridaythe 23rd of December.Wow! Like most of you Ihave been a fan of"Black" music fordecades. Unlike most ofyou, I had never had theprivilege of seeing KevinBlack in concert; eventhough a majority of myfriends have.

As it happens in theworld when you are pur-suing your dreams andsomeone else is pursuingtheirs, magic happens.My magic appeared via

Connie Strong fromChappel Hill, TX. Oneday I received this ran-dom email from a freelance writer telling meshe had "found" mynewspaper online. And,she went on to explainthat she worked with theBlack family to spread theword about Rhett's Syn-drome; which tookKevin's daughter's life atthe age of 16. She askedif I would join in the causeand print an article re-garding an upcomingconcert/fundraiser theBlack Brothers were giv-

ing in Houston. I saidsure.

Severalmonths/emails later Iasked Kevin if he wouldlike to host a benefit forRhetts Syndrome at myrestaurant and he said"Why don't I just play avenue there?" Like, dah!Other than the fact thatwe cannot afford you...Isee NO reason!" We ne-gotiated and came upwith a great price for usboth plus room andboard, my BMW, Dale'sF150, Dale's newover/under shotgun and

bam! just likethat...we hada deal! What-ever hechargedus...it was notenough!

At about7:30 Kevinand ColetonBlack beganstrummingtheir guitarsand did NOTstop, exceptfor a few pit

stops, until after midnight!They were amazing!Connie told me that Kevinwas "wickedly funny" andshe was right. He wasgracious, funny and oneamazing performer. Daleand I were just looking ateach other all nightmouthing across theroom "They are awe-some!"

They sang county,rock, blues, originals andeven Elvis! Oh yeahbaby! Kevin sold out ofCD's, which he alsosigned, so fast that poorDale and Crystal STILLdon't have one!

We had a sold out,

packed house and every-one was pleased. We willhave them back in thesummer when we canseat on the patio andhave more room so, getready and make sure youmake reservations!

You can tell by all thepictures that everyonehad a great time. And,I'm just gonna have tosay that the number onemost asked question ofthe evening was "How oldis Coleton?" Tee hee hee!

Clockwise from top: Tom

& Terri Cook, Clay

Thomas, Jodi & Chris, Lisa

Anderson, Wade Ingram,

Leslie McFarland, Marla In-

gram, Bob McFarland; ran-

dom shot of

restaurant...but who IS that

at the bar...???; Kevin

Black signing Ann

Dorn’s CD; Lisa Ander-

son and Crystal Lutz;

Coleton Black signing a

CD; Kevin Black signing

The Dam Good Times;

Lex and his son and

wife; Dale Lutz & Cari

Womack; Kevin Black,

Dale Lutz, Aaron Moore,

Coleton Black Christmas

Eve shooting guns; clay pi-

geons; no real animals were

hurt...

Happy New Year 2012